All of us are unrecognized futurologists, a droplet there are more historians and a little oracles. The mysterious futurology is a science which is engaged in studying history of the future. In the standard understanding history – the natural science studying the past and the present of human society and regularity of its development. The futurology considers tasks, the purposes, the direction of social movement and predicts possible difficulties.
Guessing on lines of science
The unknown future always concerned minds of people, and scientists-philosophers were just lost in various theories and scientific concepts. Each of them tried to develop an own current which could help to predict the future. For example, the theory of indeterminism, claims that the future phenomena are not foreordained from above, and society itself can manage future. Other current approves the absolutely return – the future of mankind is in advance programmed (the theory of determinism). And according to the third theory people creators of the future, but all their actions and decisions are initially predetermined.
Past of science of the future
As a philosophy branch the modern futurology concentrated in itself a set of concepts about the future. But, at the same time, the futurology belongs to the sphere of scientific research which is engaged in prospects of various social phenomena. This science in a sense is a synonym of prognostics and forecasting.
For the first time the term futurology appeared in the text of a speech of the famous German sociologist O. Flekht-Heim. This scientist meant by futurology future philosophy - absolutely new doctrine directed to studying the future prospects of all social phenomena. In the scientific treatise "History and Futurology" the author calls futurology an effective remedy in overcoming irrelevant and outdated ideologies. To O. Flekht-Heim tried to predict probable options of future social order at the time of the Middle Ages the famous thinkers Thomas of Mora and Tomazzo Kampanell.
Futurological boom
In the sixties the last century the rating of futurology sharply jumped up up. Political scientists, economists, philosophers undertook to predict the future actively. Public organizations which analyzed a present situation and modelled future options began to be organized. So the most known organization created in 1968 is called "The Roman club". And in 1974 under the auspices of UNESCO there began the activity the futurological center "World Federation of a Research of the Future". Today, developing models and forecasts for the future, the whole departments of scientific institutes and public organizations function, trying to comprehend and predict problems of modern society.