There is no one method for studying the future, although there are a number of tools that are used. If you are just starting out in the study of the future, here are some random thoughts on future-related information and sites:
The largest association of futurists (and the one I belong to) is the World Future Society, based in Bethesda, Maryland in the U.S. It boasts a membership of approximately 30,000 people worldwide, and is more than 30 years old. Basic membership is US $35 a year, and includes the Society’s monthly magazine, The Futurist, as well as invitations to Society conventions, and discounts on future-related books that are reviewed in the magazine. The Society’s website can be found at www.wfs.org, or you can e-mail them at info@wfs.org. The WFS also has a bookstore that you can access on-line at their website, or by phone at 1-301-656-8274.
There is only one university that I know of in North America that offers an undergraduate degree in future studies: the University of Houston at Clear Lake. Their website is located at www.cl.uh.edu/futureweb/, or you can contact Dr. Peter Bishop by e-mail, or phone 1-218-283-3396.
If you are interested in the ‘Official Word’ on aging (as opposed to the thousands of websites hawking vitamins, alternative medical practices, and occult ways of achieving nirvana and/or immortality), check out the website of the National Institute on Aging, an arm of the U.S. federal government (www.nia.nih.gov). The NIA offers only the party line on scientific research, brushing aside more tempting speculation. It shoots gaping holes in all the talk about melatonin being the new wonder drug for anti-aging, for example.
I will add more sites and references as time goes on. You might also check out the Bibliography attached to this site for books and printed materials that might be of use or interest. If you have suggestions about sites or reference materials that might be of use, please forward them to me by e-mail for consideration.
