Better thinking about the future with Dr Tom Lombardo

Dr Tom Lombardo is the Executive Director of the Center for Future Consciousness in the United States, the Managing Editor of the online journal Wisdom and the Future, and Professor Emeritus and retired Faculty Chair of Psychology, Philosophy, and the Future at Rio Salado College, Tempe, Arizona.

He is an Executive Board member and Fellow of the World Futures Studies Federation, a special honour given to members who have made a globally recognised original contribution to futures studies.

He has published eight books and over fifty articles, and given an equal number of national and international presentations covering such topics as the future of education; utopian and dystopian futurist thought; wisdom and character virtues; the evolution of science fiction; the future evolution of consciousness; contemporary theories of the future; and the heightening of future consciousness.

I spent some time chatting to Dr Lombardo about how people can think more creatively about the future, which was recorded for your listening convenience and loaded onto our new podcast page.

Dr Lombardo's books include:

Science Fiction - The Evolutionary Mythology of the Future: Prometheus to the Martians (Volume 1) - An evolutionary and transformative journey through the history of science fiction from the innermost passions and dreams of the human spirit to the farthest reaches of the universe, human imagination, and beyond.

The Pursuit of Virtue: The Path to a Good Future - It was 1802 when English Romantic poet William Wordsworth remarked that humanity was wasting its energy on the quest for material acquisition. Centuries later, we are arguably worse off - with growing numbers suffering from maladies ranging from affluenza to social media addiction, narcissism, and more. As world-renowned futurist Thomas Lombardo puts it, "We are becoming lost and forlorn, drowning in an overpowering present."

Lombardo maps out the journey using key visionaries as navigators and outlines the personal steps necessary to help us unfold our individual wisdom narratives. In this way, we become the gift, and humanity has an opportunity to actively create the future we all dream of.

Future Consciousness: The Path to Purposeful Evolution - How do our unique conscious minds reflect and amplify nature’s vast evolutionary process? This book provides a scientifically informed, psychologically holistic approach to understanding and enhancing our future consciousness, serving as a guide for creating a realistic, constructive, and ethical future. Thomas Lombardo reveals how we can flourish in the flow of evolution and create a prosperous future for ourselves, human society and the planet.

Mind Flight - With great honesty, and both drama and romance, Mind Flight weaves together personal narrative and intellectual odyssey, taking readers along on the authors pursuit of wisdom and enlightenment, his search for love, and his quest for an inspiring vision of the future. Encyclopaedic in scope, the book pulls together Plato, Freud, Spinoza, Nietzsche, and other epochal historical figures with Pink Floyd, the Hippies, the Sexual Revolution, A Clockwork Orange, the Yin-Yang, the madhouse world of mental health, and the fantastical visions of science fiction.

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