Possible realities

"Our horizons are not the edges of reality." – Daniel Macmillen Voskoboynik. Find out what sidecasting is and what it has to do with storytelling and speculative design.

One story can be told in many ways. Facts are established not only by observation, but also by interpretation and meaning. Stories about the past usually form structured narratives in which some events cause another.

Making tales about the future is based on different principles. Facts and the meanings given to them are replaced by expectations, predictions, fears and dreams. What we will see in the future is rooted not only in our current experiences, goals and decisions taken, historical data analysis and observed trends, but also in past events where weak signs of change are available in the present but have not yet been noticed. The future will emerge from the here and now, but the complexity of our world does not allow it to be determined.

So why tell tales about the future when the future is nondeterministic? It is not only a great research tool or the possibility of a critical look at the world around us. There are stories in these stories that can happen. The farther we move beyond the beaten path of our own beliefs, the more opportunities and possibilities we discover in stories about possible futures, as we see more signals of change that are available here and now. Telling about the future results in greater awareness of the present.

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