From individual to social foresight

To this point in time humanity has successfully responded to the challenges to its existence. A viewpoint becoming widespread is that humanity will have to respond to even greater challenges to its existence in the future. If adequate responses are not formulated to these emerging challenges then a dystopian future for humanity is a strong possibility. While experience can teach us how to act in the future it is the express intent of this research that we should not have to experience dystopia in order to learn how to prevent it. The innate human capacity for foresight has played a pivotal role in responding to past challenges, however, a more extensive form of foresight will need to be developed to respond to these future challenges. That form of foresight will need to be both individual and social in nature. Part I of this thesis generates an original theory of how foresight could develop in individuals beyond our innate capacities. The theory argues that foresight capacities develop through the expansion of individual consciousness, particularly the individual's sense of 'self'. The theory is synthesised from the work of a num- ber of psychological researchers including Jean Piaget, Jane Loevinger, Lawrence Kohlberg, Clare Graves, Susan Cook-Greuter and Ken Wilber. Part II is a two year study of students undertaking a postgraduate course in strategic foresight. The study is utilised to add preliminary empirical support to the theory proposed in Part I. Part III integrates the previous two parts to further elaborate the attributes and dynamics of individual foresight development before describing how social foresight capacity can emerge from individual development. Expanded individual and social foresight capacities are achievable, but cannot be assumed. The contribution of this thesis is to give a theoretical base to such development and to outline further research. The development of individual foresight and the emergence of social expressions of foresight can offer preferable, and not dystopian, futures for both current and future generations.