501derful.org
FISpace is about the future and innovation. Want to practice collaborating with others to solve some hella problems? Then check out SUPERSTRUCT, the first massively multiplayer forecasting game. It was created by the Institute for the Future to use multiplayer gaming to see how people solve complex problems like the ones the world will face in the 21st Century. We’re going to need to think big and work together on a global scale in the future, and this is an exercise in doing that.
The game takes place in 2019 (just four years after 2015). Five scenarios about events are prsented for playeres to focus on: 1) an epidemic of a serious SARS-like respiratory disease; 2) the 20th century food supply chain breaks down and people revert to local supplies; 3) the switch to alternative energy hits a snag as incompatible alternatives are pushed; 4) hackers and griefers disrupt communication systems; and 5) climate refugees cause overburden on social systems where they try to relocate. To top it all off, an authroitative world agency has just predicted that if these and other problems are not managed the world will reach a tipping-point in 2042 for a massive, worldwide population collapse.
It’s kind of surreal to play the game given the context of the global financial system meltdown we’re in the middle of right now. So maybe we should be practicing our problem solving skills.
