There have always been insightful books on future trends that explore various aspects of society, technology, and the economy.

Here's just a few:
 

1. "The Future is Faster Than You Think" by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler.

2. "The Second Machine Age" by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee.

3. "The Future of Work" by Jacob Morgan.

4. "21 Lessons for the 21st Century" by Yuval Noah Harari.

5. "Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives" by John Naisbitt.
 

I've only read one from that list, and I'm not necessarily recommending any of those books. I am always surprised that so many future-prediction books focus so much on technology as if it were the only or primary factor to consider. All these books are usually researched and written from a worldly perspective. None of them consider many of the myriad factors that go into an accurate future that complicate and muddy the waters to see clearly into the future. Years ago, we made predictions without knowing the future would develop the internet, social media, and now - AI. And we're still trying to comprehend what these technologies are and will do to and for society, business, the economy, and so many other aspects of our lives.

 

What sets us apart from these authors is our unique perspective as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We have insights into the religious truths and details about a millennial day that none of these books consider. This is a distinct advantage - insider information if you will.

 

Without incorporating these insights into the narrative, no one can accurately predict the ultimate future. In fact, an accurate future can only be known once someone considers all the ramifications of true doctrine. This is where our unique advantage lies.

 

In some ways, their guesses are more likely to be wrong than ours. We see it constantly as we read science fiction. It is almost always a dystopian future. We understand many of the reasons for that - it adds interest and conflict, it colors the narrative, it extends the issues we live under today, and it helps clarify what might happen if we continue on humanity's current course.

 

Again, it would be helpful if the authors of these dystopian books could include a few insights we, as members of a Latter-day Saint community, have always known.

 

The future (the real future) must be shaken up and restarted; destruction by humans and nature will have occurred, and many things will change; people will need to be of higher caliber just to survive living in that day. And yet few are talking about nor writing about just what "that" world will look like.

 

By speculating on "that" world (years or decades in front of us) and basing those ideas on correct gospel truths, we may not always get it right (we don't expect to), but we have the potential to be more accurate than our secular counterparts. I am excited to see how close we can come to imagining some things. The reality is that we may discover more questions and dead ends than specific answers - but that's OK as this intellectual first draft and early discussion goes.

 

We know we cannot do a perfect job of predicting the actual Millennial day. In fact, we're doing a lot of guessing here - but we suspect we might get some things correct as we look to the revealed revelations and scriptures as our starting point. At the same time, a small innovation, invention, or knowledge that might be given from on high as the heavens become more open to us in that day might totally change what we can imagine.

 

In fact, the sciences are significant areas that could stump us. Just a couple of new concepts, revelations, or breakthroughs can change everything we know about health, the universe, food production, weather, or anything.

 

Some might then ask, "Why are we even trying?"

Because we are curious.

Because we'd like to know.

Because no one else can or has gone there.

 

It is time to start the discussion.

To strengthen our hope. Our faith.

Because we can think further and envision the possibilities.

Because there could be benefits in knowing or in thinking that we have a hint as to what is coming.

 

Because we dream and hope for better times and better worlds.

 

Let's start thinking about it.