Imagine asking for a “gender expansion enhancement from female to male, weekend lease” or an “exoskelatal strength-amplifier for on-foot trip through the Amazon” for Christmas.
These are some of the proposals that futurist Faith Popcorn has as appearing in an imagined 2035 Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalogue of gifts that you might want to consider for a loved one.
Interesting, these certainly are. But do these suggestions fill you with excitement or horror?
My sense is that your response may say something about personality traits and particularly about the trait “openness”.
But what is “openness”?
Psychologists define “openness” as one of the big five personality traits that characterise humanity. The sub-traits associated with “openness” include being original, imaginative, having broad interests, and being daring. Those who are low in “openness”, in contrast, tend to stick to the known and the routine – they are those who like the more familiar and comfortable.
For me, it seems that many of the available future experiences that are outlined will require some degree of openness to the new and the not so familiar.
Consider Popcorn’s full 2035 Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalogue again:
1. Intelligence Booster Chip for 20 Days of job interviews
2. Mandarin Language Chip insertion for trip to Shanghai
3. Exoskelatal strength-amplifier for on-foot trip through the Amazon
4. Gender expansion enhancement from Female to Male, weekend lease
5. English Speaking Rotweiller
6. One Evening VR Trip to your Future
7. Weekend VR Retro-Trip to departed parents and siblings
8. Fresh natural food dinner with real spring water
9. Lab created genius newborn with your DNA, enhanced
10. Share in a private reservoir
While a “fresh natural food dinner with real spring water” or a “share in a private reservoir” may appeal to those who would like the traditional and the familiar, many of the other catalogue items require more of an adventurous nature or, in other words, more of the “openness” personality trait. This suggests that the future may be more welcoming for those who enjoy the new rather than the routine.
If we look at the trait “openness” what becomes apparent is that this trait is linked to intelligence. It also appears to vary across one’s lifespan and vary according to age, with “openness” decreasing as aging occurs. Gender also seems to play a role, with women tending to have higher levels of “openness”, as does where you stand politically, with liberals and those who are more left leaning tending to have higher levels of “openness”.
It is unclear what any of this means i.t.o. future preparedness.
Certainly, if Faith Popcorn’s more adventurous Christmas suggestions of what the future holds are anything to go by, younger, female, liberals, with a high IQ may be slightly more prepared for future.
Deborah Spicer writes for the trend-mapping futurist blog, Spicy Trends. To subscribe to a newsletter on trends in society and, specifically, in marketing, mail deborah@spicytrends.co.za.