What does wisdom have to do with the future? As many of my colleagues on The Wisdom Page would probably reply, "Just about everything--at least everything important." It is through wisdom that we will create a positive future, and without it, the future will almost certainly be a bleak and dismal reality. It makes sense to connect the themes of the future and wisdom. 

Over the last year and a half I have been publishing two online newsletters: Futurodyssey for the Center for Future Consciousness and the Wisdom Page Updates for The Wisdom Page. Often I have included identical items (essays and book reviews) in both newsletters. This last year I talked with many of The Wisdom Page advisory board members about combining the two newsletters, and beginning with this issue, the two are being combined into one: The new title for this synthesized creation is Wisdom and the Future. If you have been on either the CFC or WP mailing lists, you will be receiving this new publication. You can still access old issues of both newsletters in their separate Archive Pages, but from now on there will be just one Archive Page for issues of Wisdom and the Future.

I envision Wisdom and the Future as an electronic journal with essays, book reviews, thought pieces, and even poems at times, addressing issues and themes relevant to either understanding wisdom or understanding the future. Preferably, submissions should synthesize both themes. Contributions to the journal should be well-written, intellectually informative and provocative, and ideally, demonstrate personal relevance and value to the reader. Historically grounded essays will not be excluded, since history frequently has great relevance to both the present and the future. Moreover, history expands and enriches our consciousness of time. I envision the journal reaching an increasingly large and diverse audience, "spreading the word" of the philosophy and the ideas of both The Wisdom Page and The Center for Future Consciousness.  I encourage all those interested readers to submit their writings for consideration for publication in Wisdom and the Future.  

This month the lead article is my new essay "The Future Evolution of Consciousness." This article, in the spirit of synthesis of futurist and wisdom themes, pulls together my thoughts on the nature of consciousness; the special significance of future consciousness (informed by the past); evolution; flourishing in life through wisdom and virtue; and the value of science fiction in the evolution of future consciousness and wisdom. It epitomizes, in my mind, the kind of essay that strongly pulls together futurist and wisdom themes. I will be speaking on some of the ideas in the article at the World Future Society conference in Orlando Florida July 10th through the 13th. 

As a reminder, I will also be giving a day long intensive "consciousness expanding" course on "Science Fiction: The Mythology of the Future" at the WFS conference on July 10th. See the description below on the course, as well as the earlier essay I wrote in the WP and CFC newsletters. Recently, it dawned on me that there is a strong and illuminating connection between wisdom and science fiction. See the lead article or take the course on science fiction.

One final thing: Maintaining the newsletters and the two websites requires an ongoing financial investment. I have, in the past, received contributions from readers, colleagues, and advisory board members, but most of the cost falls to me. If you value the work being done both in the CFC and TWP, please consider making a donation to our cause. Email me and I'll give you directions regarding how to make a donation. Thank you.

Hope you enjoy the first issue of Wisdom and the Future.