Westporter Watts Wacker Says World Entering Epoch of UncertaintyӔ
Westporter Watts Wacker, who makes a living pontificating about whats to come as a futurist, says the world is at a historical turning point.
In an interview with the Hartford Courant, Wacker said he sees the attacks of Sept. 11 and the Iraq war as historical “anchors,” but not necessarily as the causes of the shift.
Wacker, who heads Westport-based FirstMatter LLC, said the world is entering the “epoch of uncertainty” – a churning sea of incessant change with few islands of stability and security. The dominant organizational principle of this emerging age, he said, is paradox.
“Of course, you see that so brilliantly in what’s been happening in these past few days,” Wacker said.
“You have war protests with regular people like you could not imagine. These are not professional anarchists. These are everyday American people. At the same time, you’re seeing polls that show huge support for this war.”
With the pillars of business, religion and education crumbling under the weight of scandals, he said, anxiety is spreading.
“What’s whacking people out is that there is nothing to compare [our current situation] against that makes you know it’s going to be OK,” he said. “These periods of great change have huge disruptions and result in huge numbers of people being displaced physically, emotionally and spiritually.”
