A small ‘what if’ question can open up a vast range of possibilities. Science-fiction writers are good at this. They create entire worlds, entire series, on questions like, “What if all human beings were grey?” or, “What if a virus could prevent women from getting pregnant?” or, “What if the Moon was destroyed?” I love these questions, but the answers require breadth and depth in many different areas: anthropology, politics, biology, technology, physics, sociology, economics… And this talent is why science-fiction writers are sometimes brought on as consultants. Companies and organizations use these thinking skills to explore potential futures for their products or actions.
DO NOT TRY TO LIVE FOREVER. YOU WILL NOT SUCCEED. — GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
Try this experiment: write down 10 things that would definitely change in our society if we all lived ten times longer. What if you had the potential to live for one thousand years? How would that change our current 4-year political cycles? How would that change the idea of a ‘generation’? How would that change our approach to sustainability? How would that change our idea of ‘ages & stages’? What would are experience of time be like? Would we have a different relationship to money? How does the concept of marriage change? If you are 980 and your kid is 960, are you really that different? How would this change advances in technology, art, education, research? How long does a trend last? How much longer do bucket lists become? Would suicide become more acceptable? Would the idea of prison change? How much more, or less, would people change over time? How would our physical activities change? How would our bodies handle one-thousand years of abuse? What new types of deseases and chronic issues would occur? Would religion become more, or less necessary? Would new types of skills develop, and would those skills require new age restrictions? Would age make you more, or less desirable than it does now, and why?
Asking ‘what if’ in any situation forces you to think broadly about the big picture, and then go deep into each situation and figure out how all the pieces are connected. It’s not just a fun exercise; it can expose a fresh approach to a problem, or present an innovative solution to a current need.
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