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Simulation Skills: This is Your Brain on the Future
  • Level Foundation
  • Duration 13 hours
  • Course by Institute for the Future
  • Offered by

About

Do you want to learn how to simulate the future more creatively and more effectively? This course is for you. Humans are the only living creatures with the ability to think about and make plans for the long- term future. Even so, our brains don’t always make it easy. Over the past decade, scientists have discovered a number of neurological “road blocks” to effective futures thinking. These glitches in the brain make it harder for us to accurately predict how we’ll feel and what we’re likely to do, when a particular future arrives. They lead us to make faulty assumptions about which futures are likely or unlikely to happen. And they convince us we have less power to shape and influence the future than we actually do – leaving us stuck in the present. In this course, you’ll learn how to overcome these obstacles so you can think about the future more strategically and creatively. You’ll practice simulation techniques for “unsticking” the mind when it comes to seeing what’s possible in the future and accepting how things could be different. You’ll also learn how to lead others through “first-person future” simulations, which have been shown in scientific studies to improve strategy and increase motivation and hope for the future. Along the way, leading futurists from the Institute from the Future will share some of their most challenging forecasts to help you stretch your imagination and improve your simulation skills. This course will ensure that you can put all of your new forecasting skills to the best possible use, by helping you nudge your brain toward more effective ways of simulating and preparing for the future. Many thanks to the Enlight Foundation and the Enlight Collaborative, which provided a grant to support the creation of this course.

Modules

Welcome to the course!

    • 2 Videos
    • 3 Readings
    • 2 Discussion
Show info about module content

2 Discussions

  • Introduce yourself!
  • What CAN'T be different in the future?

2 Videos

  • Welcome to the course! Meet your professor Jane McGonigal
  • What can't be different in the future?

3 Readings

  • Take a two-minute survey about the future!
  • Simulation Skills Brief: Your "cheat sheet" for this course
  • What is Mental Simulation?

Three Simulation Techniques (How to Unstick Your Mind)

    • 3 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 PeerReview
Show info about module content

1 Peer Review

  • Unstick your Mind

3 Videos

  • Technique #1: Predict the Past
  • Technique #2: Remember the Future
  • Technique #3: Hard Empathy

1 Readings

  • Future-Proof Your Brain

Neurological Pathways of Simulation

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
    • 1 Assignment
Show info about module content

1 Assignment

  • Neurological Pathways of Simulation

1 Discussions

  • "Specificity training" practice

1 Videos

  • Neurological Pathways of Simulation

1 Readings

  • How to "Fill in the Blanks" of Your Brain

Your Future Self is a Stranger

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
Show info about module content

1 Assignment

  • Why the brain thinks differently about your future self

1 Videos

  • Your Future Self is a Stranger

1 Readings

  • Why Your Future Self is a Stranger

How to Use First-Person Futures

    • 2 Videos
    • 1 Discussion
Show info about module content

1 Discussions

  • First-Person Future: Blockchain voting

2 Videos

  • Thinking in Facts versus Thinking in First Person
  • Let's try some first person futures!

What will YOU do with the Internet of Things?

    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
Show info about module content

1 Discussions

  • Internet of Things

1 Readings

  • Welcome to the Internet of Things

First-Person Creativity

    • 3 Videos
    • 3 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
    • 1 PeerReview
Show info about module content

1 Peer Review

  • First-Person Future: Extreme Heat Wave

1 Discussions

  • First Person Creativity: The Brick Challenge

3 Videos

  • First Person Creativity
  • The Superstruct Game
  • 2022 Update! Did the simulation you just learned about accurately predict the real pandemic?

3 Readings

  • Superstruct Scenario
  • Updates to this Lesson! (Added July 2022)
  • Excerpt from Jane McGonigal's IMAGINABLE: How to See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for Anything, Even Things That Seem Impossible Today

100 Ways Anything Could Be Different

    • 2 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
Show info about module content

1 Discussions

  • Future of Marriage

2 Videos

  • 100 Ways Anything Could Be Different
  • SCENARIO: The Future of Marriage

1 Readings

  • The Future of Marriage Project (How We Did It)

The Alternative Futures Tool

    • 3 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 PeerReview
Show info about module content

1 Peer Review

  • Envision Alternative Futures

3 Videos

  • Introduction to Alternative Futures
  • How to Envision Alternative Future (Part 1)
  • How to Envision Alternative Futures (Part 2)

1 Readings

  • TOOL: Envision Alternative Futures

Alternative Futures for Caregiving

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
Show info about module content

1 Discussions

  • Future of Caregiving

1 Videos

  • Alternative Futures for Caregiving in 2031

1 Readings

  • Future of Caregiving in 2031

New Kinds of Simulation

    • 2 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
Show info about module content

1 Assignment

  • New Kinds of Simulation

2 Videos

  • Introduction to Advanced Simulation Topics
  • The Simtainer

2 Readings

  • Future of Video Simulation
  • Future of Touch Simulation (Haptics)

Simulating Better Worlds with Afrofuturism

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
Show info about module content

1 Assignment

  • Afrofuturism

1 Videos

  • What is Afrofuturism?

1 Readings

  • Black to the Future (Afrofuturism)

Full Body Simulation

    • 2 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
Show info about module content

1 Discussions

  • Where would you create a full-body experience of the future?

2 Videos

  • Full Body Simulation Part 1
  • Full Body Simulation Part 2

2 Readings

  • Experiential Futures Show and Tell
  • Future of Newport, Year 2061

Congratulations! You're Ready to Simulate the Future

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
Show info about module content

1 Discussions

  • What's your biggest "a ha" moment from this course?

1 Videos

  • Congratulations on finishing this course!

1 Readings

  • An invitation to join our free Alumni Network

Auto Summary

Unlock the power of future thinking with "Simulation Skills: This is Your Brain on the Future." Ideal for business and management professionals, this foundational course, led by experts from the Institute for the Future, teaches strategic and creative simulation techniques. Overcome neurological obstacles to improve forecasting, strategy, and motivation. Available on Coursera with flexible subscription options. Join now to reshape your approach to future planning!

Jane McGonigal
Instructor

Jane McGonigal