Tanken om framtiden - Sociala och kulturella processer i skapandet av mentala bilder

Abstract

The aim of this work is to gain understanding of how predictions and images of future are created and maintained and how they are changed in society. An interdisciplinary approach to cultural and social aspects is used to examine how collective images about future are created. The distinction between collective images and private images is problematised. The subject matter is extracted from a previous explorative examination about Do It Yourself and Open Source culture which are concepts of collective learning. That work is described in the foreword. The question ”How is a collective image about the future created?” is central for this paper. The interdisciplinary approach is a cross reference synthesis of philosophies, educational studies, film studies, strategic studies and future studies. Through the synthesis a hermeneutic philosophical understanding of a phenomenon, a theory of justification is formed which attempts to expose propositions of utopian or dystopian images of future. The image of the future is a fusion of contradictory and parallel texts. Thematic work in education problematising future and questions about personal and collective experience is advised.