by Oliver Markley
Introduction
By focusing on the possibility that society may be headed for a “mega-crisis,” Bill Halal and Michael Marien have opened up a very important line of inquiry. The purpose of this brief essay is to advance the further evolution of this debate, as well as the systemic improvement of futures research and social policy R&D in general. It is based on my recently published research on similar concerns (Markley, 2011a, 2011b, 2011c).1 For reasons made clear below, I avoid making the specific severity, probability and timing estimates that were expected–creating my own template instead, and responding to the questions the new template poses in ways I hope others might weigh in on as well. Thus, this response is primarily methodological, contributing five specific suggestions on how to proactively engage a positive recovery from whatever level of severity to which the current trends toward disruptive disintegration may lead.(continue…)