Out of the blue: Wild cards and other big future surprises : how to anticipate and respond to profound change

There will be big surprises in the future - guaranteed! Futurist John L. Petersen says we just don't know what wild cards?low probability, high impact events - will show up. "Out Of the Blue" is the first attempt to systematically look at wild cards. Starting with a methodology of how to determine which wild cards would be particularly important to you or your organization, the book then catalogs 84 potential major earth-shaking events, listing major characteristics of each. The wild cards listed run the gamut from a major failure of the global information technology system, cloning humans, faster than light travel, an energy revolution that makes fossil fuels obsolete, the arrival of extraterrestrial life forms, the collapse the world economic system, and medical breakthroughs that eliminate major diseases. A World Future Society best seller!