Jamais Cascio
Encyclopedia
Jamais Cascio is a San Francisco Bay Area
-based writer and ethical futurist specializing in design strategies and possible outcomes for future scenarios.
Cascio received his undergraduate degree from UC Santa Cruz and his ABD at UC Berkeley, and began designing future scenarios very early in his work.
In the 1990s, Cascio worked for the futurist and scenario planning
firm Global Business Network
. In 2003, with Alex Steffen
he co-founded the popular environmental website Worldchanging
, where he wrote the plurality of the site's content, covering topics including urban design, climate science, renewable energy, open source models, emerging technologies, social networks, "leapfrog" global development, and ethical strategies which include a "bright green" approach. After his TED Talk in 2006 and his essay "The Open Future" he established his own blog presence at Open the Future...with enough minds, all tomorrows are visible". In 2007 he was a lead author on the Metaverse Roadmap Overview. He is a research fellow at the Institute for the Future
, and as scenario design lead along with Jane McGonigal
for the "massively multiplayer forecasting game," Superstruct in 2008. Cascio is also a Senior Fellow for the IEET, and a Director of Impacts Analysis for Center For Responsible Nanotech. In 2009 Cascio was selected as Foreign Policy Global top 100 thinkers No. 72 and cited as a "guru of all things on the horizon".
At Worldchanging
, he covered a broad variety of topics, from energy and climate change to global development, open source, and bio- and nanotechnologies.
conference "The Future We Will Create," in Monterey, California with his speech Jamais Cascio on tools for a better world; outlining possible available solutions for the emerging world climate and energy crisis. Using a strategy of focusing on positive outcomes and surveying a broad range of design solutions and possible applications including Cradle to Cradle, Open Source, transparency, collaboration, and devices and informational systems that help alter human behavior; Jamais advocated for an active and engaged immediate response to climate issues and peak oil concerns. Jamais also spoke of the cell phone as a primary device for rapid change; clearly outlining the emerging role of the mobile phone as a device that goes far beyond simple personal communications and suggesting some possible expanded informational applications.
Cascio is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
.
Cascio was a speaker on the "On The Edge of Independent User-Creation In Gamespace" panel at the 2007 SXSW Interactive Festival.
Cascio is a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Future
where together with Jane McGonigal
in 2008 he helped create and administer the large scale collaborative multiplayer game Superstruct as an advanced strategy to engage lots of other hopeful thinkers in the pursuit of possible strategies and positive outcomes of a proposed future scenario occurring in 2019.
Cacsio specializes in "Big Picture Thinking", systems thinking, and foresight methodologies. Carefully crafting scenarios of possible future outcomes Cascio is constantly examining emerging social trends in design, technology and ecological whole systems thinking in order to elucidate and amplify the possible benefits of an open and transparent society where information is available to the many and not concentrated in an act of holding power in the hands of a few. His writing of Transhuman Space: Broken Dreams (2003) for the GURPS
science fiction role-playing game
series "Transhuman Space
" established Cascio as a speculative futurist. He speaks and writes frequently on the use of future studies as a tool for anticipating and managing environmental and technological crises. Cascio's work could be classified as techno-progressive. His strategies include possible scenarios of Pandemic, Meteor impact, climate refugees, geoengineering, nanotechnology, AI, machine ethics
and the emerging global cultures created and maintained virtually all with ready at hand bright green solutions that merge the technological and the ecological with modern collaborative media. His work is focused on the key drivers and signifiers of change, including the ethical implications of FoxP2 and animal consciousness, the Cheeseburger footprint, fabbing technologies, and a responsible model for molecular manufacturing. Cascio sees the fundamental tools of change as transparency, collaboration and access to information.
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
-based writer and ethical futurist specializing in design strategies and possible outcomes for future scenarios.
Biography
Jamais Cascio lives just outside San Francisco with his wife and two cats.Cascio received his undergraduate degree from UC Santa Cruz and his ABD at UC Berkeley, and began designing future scenarios very early in his work.
In the 1990s, Cascio worked for the futurist and scenario planning
Scenario planning
Scenario planning, also called scenario thinking or scenario analysis, is a strategic planning method that some organizations use to make flexible long-term plans. It is in large part an adaptation and generalization of classic methods used by military intelligence.The original method was that a...
firm Global Business Network
Global Business Network
Global Business Network, or GBN, is a strategy consulting firm and member of Monitor Group, that helps businesses, NGOs, and governments use scenario planning to plan for multiple possible futures....
. In 2003, with Alex Steffen
Alex Steffen
Alex Steffen is an American writer, editor, public speaker and futurist most noted for his bright green ideas.Steffen co-founded and ran the online magazine Worldchanging from its start in 2003 until its closure in 2010...
he co-founded the popular environmental website Worldchanging
Worldchanging
Worldchanging is an American non-profit online magazine and blog about sustainability and social innovation. At 19/09/2011, it was taken over by Architecture for Humanity....
, where he wrote the plurality of the site's content, covering topics including urban design, climate science, renewable energy, open source models, emerging technologies, social networks, "leapfrog" global development, and ethical strategies which include a "bright green" approach. After his TED Talk in 2006 and his essay "The Open Future" he established his own blog presence at Open the Future...with enough minds, all tomorrows are visible". In 2007 he was a lead author on the Metaverse Roadmap Overview. He is a research fellow at the Institute for the Future
Institute for the Future
The Institute for the Future is a Palo Alto, California–based think tank established in 1968, as a spin-off from the RAND Corporation, to help organizations plan for the long-term future....
, and as scenario design lead along with Jane McGonigal
Jane McGonigal
Jane McGonigal, Ph.D. is a game designer, games researcher, and author, specializing in pervasive gaming and alternate reality games ....
for the "massively multiplayer forecasting game," Superstruct in 2008. Cascio is also a Senior Fellow for the IEET, and a Director of Impacts Analysis for Center For Responsible Nanotech. In 2009 Cascio was selected as Foreign Policy Global top 100 thinkers No. 72 and cited as a "guru of all things on the horizon".
Worldchanging
From 2003 to 2006 Cascio helped found and shape the popular bright green sustainability blog and online magazine about sustainability and social innovation Worldchanging.com.At Worldchanging
Worldchanging
Worldchanging is an American non-profit online magazine and blog about sustainability and social innovation. At 19/09/2011, it was taken over by Architecture for Humanity....
, he covered a broad variety of topics, from energy and climate change to global development, open source, and bio- and nanotechnologies.
TED Talk
In 2006, Cascio presented a TED Talk at the TEDTED (conference)
TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
conference "The Future We Will Create," in Monterey, California with his speech Jamais Cascio on tools for a better world; outlining possible available solutions for the emerging world climate and energy crisis. Using a strategy of focusing on positive outcomes and surveying a broad range of design solutions and possible applications including Cradle to Cradle, Open Source, transparency, collaboration, and devices and informational systems that help alter human behavior; Jamais advocated for an active and engaged immediate response to climate issues and peak oil concerns. Jamais also spoke of the cell phone as a primary device for rapid change; clearly outlining the emerging role of the mobile phone as a device that goes far beyond simple personal communications and suggesting some possible expanded informational applications.
Open the Future
In early 2006, Cascio established Open The Future as his online home, a title based on his WorldChanging.com essay, The Open Future. At OTF he writes on a large number of emerging topics emphasizing the emerging transparent and open society.Public speaking and research affiliations
Cascio currently serves as Director of Impacts Analysis for the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology.Cascio is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
The Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies was founded in 2004 by philosopher Nick Bostrom and bioethicist James Hughes. Incorporated in the United States as a non-profit 501 organization, the IEET is a self-described "technoprogressive think tank" that seeks to contribute to understanding...
.
Cascio was a speaker on the "On The Edge of Independent User-Creation In Gamespace" panel at the 2007 SXSW Interactive Festival.
Cascio is a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Future
Institute for the Future
The Institute for the Future is a Palo Alto, California–based think tank established in 1968, as a spin-off from the RAND Corporation, to help organizations plan for the long-term future....
where together with Jane McGonigal
Jane McGonigal
Jane McGonigal, Ph.D. is a game designer, games researcher, and author, specializing in pervasive gaming and alternate reality games ....
in 2008 he helped create and administer the large scale collaborative multiplayer game Superstruct as an advanced strategy to engage lots of other hopeful thinkers in the pursuit of possible strategies and positive outcomes of a proposed future scenario occurring in 2019.
Books
- Transhuman Space: Broken Dreams (2003).
- Transhuman Space: Toxic Memes (2004).
- Hacking the Earth: Understanding the Consequences of Geoengineering (2009).
Themes
Cacsio specializes in "Big Picture Thinking", systems thinking, and foresight methodologies. Carefully crafting scenarios of possible future outcomes Cascio is constantly examining emerging social trends in design, technology and ecological whole systems thinking in order to elucidate and amplify the possible benefits of an open and transparent society where information is available to the many and not concentrated in an act of holding power in the hands of a few. His writing of Transhuman Space: Broken Dreams (2003) for the GURPS
GURPS
The Generic Universal RolePlaying System, or GURPS, is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting...
science fiction role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
series "Transhuman Space
Transhuman Space
Transhuman Space is a role-playing game published by Steve Jackson Games as parts of the "Powered by GURPS" line. Set in the year 2100, humanity has begun to colonize the Solar System...
" established Cascio as a speculative futurist. He speaks and writes frequently on the use of future studies as a tool for anticipating and managing environmental and technological crises. Cascio's work could be classified as techno-progressive. His strategies include possible scenarios of Pandemic, Meteor impact, climate refugees, geoengineering, nanotechnology, AI, machine ethics
Machine ethics
Machine Ethics is the part of the ethics of artificial intelligence concerned with the moral behavior of Artificial Moral Agents...
and the emerging global cultures created and maintained virtually all with ready at hand bright green solutions that merge the technological and the ecological with modern collaborative media. His work is focused on the key drivers and signifiers of change, including the ethical implications of FoxP2 and animal consciousness, the Cheeseburger footprint, fabbing technologies, and a responsible model for molecular manufacturing. Cascio sees the fundamental tools of change as transparency, collaboration and access to information.
Writings and talks
(incomplete list)- Participatory Panopticon IT Conversations February 5, 2005
- Personal Memory Assistants IT Conversations 09-17-2005
- TED Talks: Jamais Cascio on tools for building a better world at TEDTED (conference)TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
in 2006 - Carbon Footprint of a Cheeseburger on KQED Radio Jun 14, 2007
- Metaversed Road Map Report PDF June 21, 2007
- Innovation the Shape of Things to Come Metropolis Magazine 10-07
- Battlefield Earth Foreign Policy January 2008
- Machine Ethics Fastcompany.com Apr 8, 2009
- Cascios Law of Robotics video, Law of Robotics Slides March 2009
- Get Smarter The Atlantic, July/August 2009
- It's Time to Cool the Planet The Wall Street Journal, June 15, 2009
- The Next Big Thing: Resilience Foreign Policy May/June 2009
- Putting the Human Back Into the Post-Human Jamais Cascio At Future Salon NYC, Oct 4, 2009
Press
- Interview with Jamais Cascio by R.U. Sirius in Neofiles (mp3)
- Jamais Cascio on the Carbon Footprint of the American Cheeseburger (Audio) – Interview of Jamais Cascio by TreeHugger Radio 1-15-2007
- Interview with Jamais Cascio at BBC WorldService (Real Audio file)
- SIAI Interview with Jamais Cascio Singularity Summit August 24, 2008
- SXSW: Futurist Jamais Cascio Sees GOP Filters, Alt Energy Wired interview By Alexis Madrigal March 10, 2008
- National Geographic Television's SIX DEGREES documentary featuring Cascio 2008
- Resilience economics – Jamais Cascio’s 2020 vision Futurismic : Paul Raven April 1, 2009
Awards
- 2004, WorldchangingWorldchangingWorldchanging is an American non-profit online magazine and blog about sustainability and social innovation. At 19/09/2011, it was taken over by Architecture for Humanity....
won the Utne Independent Press Award ONLINE CULTURAL COVERAGE. - 2009, Cascio was named by Foreign Policy Magazine as No. 72 among their "Top 100 Global Thinkers".