A term coined in 1949 by the German historian Ossip K. Flechtheim to designate the then new science of prognosis. It has often been described as an organized activity, explicitly devoted to systematic and normative interpretation of potential future histories. The new science has since been applied to a wide spread of long- range forecasting in, for example, political, sociological, economic, ecological, and other fields. Many scientists reject the notion of futurology being a science, while others quibble at the use of the unscholarly word \u201cfuturology.\u201d All are justified to some extent in their skepticism because the attractions of discussing the future are sufficiently great to attract a considerable number of cranks. Nevertheless the importance of taking cognizance of how our present actions can affect future generations is generally recognized. We must look to the future. The difficulties of the subject are, however, formidable enough to repel many sound scholars.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A term coined in 1949 by the German historian Ossip K. Flechtheim to designate the then new science of prognosis. It has often been described as an organized activity, explicitly devoted to systematic and normative interpretation of potential future histories. The new science has since been applied to a wide spread of long- range forecasting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-f"],"yoast_head":"\n