Autumn´s 19,5th article writing day - "What can be known about future Umwelten?" finished

Today I have had this autumn´s 19,5th article writing day, finishing my article "What can be known about future Umwelten?", which I have now submitted to The American journal of Semiotics. With 2.360 words written, this is the third most productive writing day so far this autumn by that measure.

Abstract: This article addresses Umwelt futurology, the study of future Umwelten, i.e. semiotic lifeworlds. Umwelt futurology as I describe it is an interdisciplinary enterprise founded on Umwelt theory but also drawing on work done in other academic studies of future developments. Asking what can be known about future Umwelten, I ascertain that our most solid knowledge about any Umwelt situated on Earth whether in the present, in the past or in the future, is derived from an understanding of what constitutes the minimal Umwelt in general and more specifically in Earthly terms. In the design, as it were, of organisms and their lifeworlds, it is not at all the case that anything goes. Knowledge about the basic features of the minimal Umwelt in effect provides us with the foundational building bricks that we need to construct an empirically informed Umwelt futurology. I argue that both predictions and scenarios concerning future lifeworlds can be developed from within this theoretical framework. While Umwelt predictions are meant to be of a merely factual nature, Umwelt scenarios may feature both factual and normative elements. In the case of the latter, factual predictions are – at least implicitly – complemented with assumptions regarding our preferences or desires with regard to future lifeworlds. While Umwelt predictions can give us more informed ideas about the future, Umwelt scenarios can help us make more informed choices whenever we discuss actions, lifestyles or policies that have an impact on future lifeworlds.

 

Keywords: futures studies, Umwelt theory, minimal Umwelt, Umwelt futurology, Umwelt prediction, Umwelt scenario