and reciprocity, also furnished a practical
foundation for under-standing the nature
of the good, in particular the good future.
Evolution, in particular, purposeful
evolution, brings us back to future con-
sciousness. Over the last five years, a key
insight crystalized in my thinking: Humans
can engage in purposeful evolution
precisely because we possess future
consciousness. The ways we express
future consciousness are multi-faceted:
The human mind learns and gathers
information, anticipates and imagines
alternative futures, thoughtfully deliberates
and evaluates such possibilities, formu-
lates goals and plans, and purposefully
at-tempts to direct the evolutionary flow of
events. Moreover, all these future-oriented
processes are energized and colored with
anticipatory emotions, such as hope and
fear, and driven by desires and values. Our
distinctive reality is purposeful evolu-
tion. (Or as Julian Huxley once stated,
“Man is nothing but evolution become
conscious of itself.”) And the capacity
that empowers us to realize this process
is the holistic set of abilities and modes
of experience of future consciousness.
If we wish to maximize our capacity
for purposeful evolution through
future consciousness, then we should
strengthen those character virtues
associated with heightened future
consciousness, most notably and centrally
wisdom. During the early part of this last
decade, I immersed myself in recent
developments in positive psychology.
Experts in this field had researched
most if not all of the character strengths
I now connected with heightened
future consciousness. As it turns out,
all these character strengths can be
enhanced. Included in my present list of
character virtues are self-responsibility
and self-control, personal growth, hope
and optimism, discipline and tenacity,
profound purpose, the love and skill
24
of learning and thinking, the creative
spirit, and wonder, awe, and cosmic
consciousness, all of which can be
strengthened through principled practice,
learning, and heightened self-awareness.
Positive psychology also provided me with
a concept connected to wellbeing and
the good that aligns with our evolutionary,
purposeful, and interdependent reality;
that concept is flourishing. Flourishing
is a dynamic, directional, growth-
oriented, and life-affirming concept
resonant with an evolutionary and
interactive universe. We flourish through
heightened future consciousness.
As I came to state it: “Flourishing
in the flow of purposeful evolution
is the good future, and heightened
future consciousness, syn-thesized as
wisdom, is the means to create this
future.” This key argument provided
the ethical foundation for my book.
By 2013 I was piloting a semester-length
college course on Future Consciousness,
which also provided an outline for the
new book. I figured I should attempt
to teach the ideas in the book before
writing it. A simple question provided
the starting point for both endeavors:
“What is a good future and how do
we create it?” It seemed to me that
this query was the central question
and challenge of human life, and
that the answer to it was heightened
future consciousness or wisdom.
So then, to recap a bit, from my
first articles it appeared to me that
heightening future consciousness
had many benefits and was the key to
addressing many of our contemporary
problems. But how does one arrive at
a principled and systematic conception
of what would be a good (or better)
life and in particular a good future?
Having studied the history of ethics and
theories of the good, I have found that all
such theories assume underlying theories
of reality. So if we are to determine a
convincing and valid theory of the good
future, we require a sound and valid
theory of reality, es-pecially pertaining to
human reality (as best as we can presently
determine). Evolution and reciprocity
provided such a realistic foundation—and,
as I have argued above, the context in
which our species developed its most
distinctive and empowering capacity:
the facilitation of purposeful evolution
through future consciousness.
And what is (or should be) our purpose?
To flourish. How do we flourish? We
flourish through heightened future
consciousness and wisdom. If we align
this formula with Ar-istotle’s principle
concerning the good—that we should
exercise with excellence our most
distinctive abilities—then the path to the
good future lies in executing our most
distinctive and empowering capacity—
purposeful evolution through wisdom
or height-ened future consciousness—
with increasing excellence.
Such has been my journey and the evo-
lution of the concept of future conscious-
ness, now explored expansively in my
latest book, Future Consciousness; The
Path to Purposeful Evolution (Change-
makers Books, 2017). The opening
chapters outline the theory of evolution,
reciprocity, purposeful evolution, the good
future, and heightened future conscious-
ness in considerable depth. The second
half of the book focuses on the various
character virtues, as applied to human
psychology, and details numerous ways
to enhance each one. In essence, the
first half of the book is more cosmic
and theoretical; the second half is more
practical and personal. A full online course
based on the book is now available on the
Center for Future Consciousness website.
The “future narrative” is one key
M AY 2 0 1 8
(Lombardo, 2015), science fiction is the
evolutionary mythology of the future, a
narrative mode of future consciousness
that is psychologically holistic and
personally engaging, generating “whole
person immersion” in the future. As
one noteworthy example among many
science fiction writers, Stapledon created
highly immersive evolutionary narratives
that inspire our emotions and stimulate
our imagination and intellect regarding
possible and preferable futures. As the
next step, building on the theory of future
consciousness developed in my new
book, later this year the first volume of
my historical study of Science Fiction:
The Evolutionary Mythology of the Future
(2018) will be published. Researching
and creating this historical saga of human
imagination in science fiction through the
ages is part of my own wisdom narrative
for the future; it is another adventure into
the expansive reaches of consciousness.
illustrative concept included in the
book and the course that combines
theory and application. Humans are
psychologically predis-posed to make
sense of themselves and the world in
terms of stories or narratives. Narratives
are a dynamic and sequentialized
mode of understanding, and provide
meaning, purpose, and identity for
people, both personally and collectively.
A very effective way to heighten future
consciousness (and wisdom) is to
create and implement an ideal future
personal narrative based on the pursuit
and development of wisdom; that is to
write and then attempt to live a “wisdom
narrative” in the future. At a personal level,
consciously creating and living a wisdom
narrative is the most efficacious way to
self-responsibly self-evolve. For society
as a whole we should aspire toward an
“Age of Wisdom” as the most ethical
and consciousness enhancing narrative
to address our present problems and
facilitate the future evolution of humanity. As purposefully evolving beings who
exist within an evolutionary universe,
our good future will be to become
better, more evolved human beings. We
should see ourselves within the cosmic
evolutionary context as a unique and
yet resonant expression of the ongoing
evolution of evolution within the universe.
It is the story in all its variations and
possibilities that we should tell ourselves. Notes Lombardo, T. (2002) The Future of Science,
Technology, and the Cosmos [Online], Center
for Future Consciousness. Available at http://
www.centerforfutureconsciousness.com/
ST_Readings.htm (Accessed 1 January 2018). Lombardo, T. (2011a) Wisdom, Consciousness, and
the Future: Selected Essays, Bloomington, IN: Xlibris.
Lombardo, T. (2006a) The Evolution of Future
Consciousness: The Nature and Historical Devel-
opment of the Human Capacity to Think about
the Future, Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse. Lombardo, T. (2014) “The future evolu-
tion of consciousness”, World Future Re-
view, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 322–35.
Most of the articles and selected chapters from
books cited in this essay, as well as numerous
videos, can be accessed on the Center for Future
Consciousness website: http://www.centerforfu-
tureconsciousness.com/index.html. The online
course can be accessed on this website as well.
A more extensive introduction to Future Con-
sciousness: The Path to Purposeful Evolution can
be found at Lombardo, 2016. Available online at:
http://www.centerforfutureconsciousness.com/pdf_
files/2016%20Articles/Future%20Consciousness%20
Article%20Complete%20FinalWFRCited.pdf
For regular bi-monthly updates on writings, videos,
presentations, and news relevant to the Center for
Future Consciousness and The Wisdom Page, see
and subscribe to the online newsletter and journal
Wisdom and the Future: http://www.centerforfutu-
reconsciousness.com/archived_newsletters.htm
At the end of the book I introduce the
science fiction writer and philosopher,
Olaf Stapledon, who wrote grand cosmic
futures narratives that were wisdom
narratives about the future evolution of
humanity and intelligence in the universe.
As stated above, there have been diverse
expressions of future consciousness
throughout human history, and narratives,
as a mode of conscious understanding,
in particular resonate with the human
mind. Our history is filled with stories
of the future, many of which come out
of science fiction. As I have argued
Lombardo, T. (2006b) “The pursuit of wisdom
and the future of education”, in Mack, T. (ed)
Creating Global Strategies for Humanity’s Future,
Bethesda, MD: World Future Society, pp. 1–23.
Lombardo, T. (2006c) Contemporary Futurist
Thought: Science Fiction, Future Studies, and
Theories and Visions of the Future in the Last
Century, Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.
References Lombardo, T. (2007) “The evolution and psy-
chology of future consciousness”, Journal of
Futures Studies, vol. 12, no. 1, pp.157–86.
Lombardo, T. (1987) The Reciprocity of Perceiver
and Environment: The Evolution of James J.
Gibson’s Ecological Psychology, Hillsdale,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Lombardo, T. (2009) “The wisdom of future
consciousness”, in Wagner, C. (ed) Innova-tion
and Creativity in a Complex World, Bethes-
da, MD: World Future Society, pp. 357–82.
Lombardo, T. (1996) The Odyssey of the
Future. Unpublished manuscript. Lombardo, T. (2010) “Wisdom facing forward: What
it means to have heightened future conscious-
ness”, The Futurist, vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 34–42.
HUMAN FUTURES
Lombardo, T. (with Lombardo, J.) (2011b) Mind Flight:
A Journey into the Future, Bloomington, IN: Xlibris.
Lombardo, T. (2015) “Science fiction: The
evolutionary mythology of the future”, Journal
of Futures Studies, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 5–24.
Lombardo, T. (2016) “Future Consciousness: The
Path to Purposeful Evolution - An introduction”,
World Future Review, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 116-140.
Lombardo, T. (2017) Future Consciousness:
The Path to Purposeful Evolution,
Winchester, UK: Changemakers Books.
Lombardo, T. (2018) (Forthcoming) Science
Fiction: The Evolutionary Mythology of the Fu-
ture, Volume One: Prometheus to the Martians,
Winchester, UK: Changemakers Books.
Lombardo, T. and Richter, J. (2004) “Evolving future
consciousness through the pur-suit of virtue”, in Dids-
bury, H. (ed) Thinking Creatively in Turbulent Times,
Bethesda, MD: World Future Society, pp. 257–88.
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