Alessandro Fergnani Zhaoli Song 1
DISCOVERING SIX NOVEL SCENARIO ARCHETYPES IN SCIENCE FICTION FILMS
n this project we attempted to do something very timely while surprisingly ignored in futures research. We analyzed a large sample of science fiction films using a rigorous grounded theory approach with the goal to find archetypal patterns that can be used in foresight practice as predetermined images of the future to create scenarios in organizations and communities. The inspiration to embark on this project came from two parallel observations we had while reviewing the futures studies literature as well as recent trends in foresight practice. The first observation is that Jim Dator’s four scenario archetypes method, which consists in using the four archetypal futures Continued Growth, Collapse, Discipline and Transformation as generic, predetermined images of the future to create alternative scenarios2, is still a rather unquestioned and widely used scenario methodology despite the fact that it has never been rigorously tested. By “tested” we mean using scientific methodologies to verify the truthfulness of the rationale behind this method, that is, that the four original archetypes can parsimoniously explain the variation of human imagination
HUMAN FUTURES
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