In this episode of Designing Science Conversations, we are very lucky to welcome science fiction writer, consulting futurist and speaker Madeline Ashby to talk to us about the theme of clarity. Madeline is the co-author the recent How to Future: Leading and Sense-Making in an Age of Hyperchange, and we delve into some of these themes in a fascinating discussion covering ideas about gender, utopia, truth, and vulnerability. Madeline makes some very interesting points about the need for an unflinching view of future possibilities, and how this sort of clarity can allow us to really get to grips with the state of the world moving forward. We also talk about how to go about cultivating a future-facing mindset, and why this requires us to look at things that have not yet been fully examined. One of the questions we had for Madeline was about the role of imagined dystopias in creating a dystopian reality, which led to an interesting exploration of why utopia is always harder to imagine and manifest than something terrible and oppressive. Our guest makes some really thought-provoking points about the role of sacrifice in achieving a greater good, and her hopes for the evolution of the human story. Join us to hear it all!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Clarity, language, and technical diction; conversational problems we often encounter. 
• Finding and recognizing truth in today's world, and Madeline's thoughts on our possible futures. 
• Cultivating an internal nimbleness that serves your ability to think about the future.   
• The role of honest and vulnerable conversation in broadening perceptions of possibilities and probabilities.
• Our conceptions of dystopia, their impact on the reality around us, and the increased demands of utopia. 
• Some powerful ideas on how society can achieve its aims through giving up certain things. 
• Balancing opposing energies and the symbolism of the solar and lunar bodies. 
• Breaking down generational constructs and the hope that we can find in younger people. 
• Pushing the conversation forward in ways that empower people to tell their own future stories. 
• Madeline's current perspective on the reality of being a woman in the sci-fi literary world. 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Designing Science Conversation

Madeline Ashby 

How to Future: Leading and Sense-Making in an Age of Hyperchange

Madeline Ashby on Twitter

MIT Technology Review 

ASU Center for Science in the Imagination

Kim Stanley Robinson

Nevil Shute

Joanna Russ

We Have Always Fought

Kameron Hurley

SpacetimeLabs

Dust & Company

Nic DiPalma Creative

Making Conversation: Seven Essential Elements of Meaningful Communication

Fred Dust on Twitter

Nic DiPalma on Twitter