For over a half-century speculative fiction has had future cities, maybe as far in the future for them as the year 2000, with flying cars and undersea communities.

Predictions about the future seem to fall into three categories. The first are those with which CEOs must be very concerned. These are the predictions that overestimate the time required for the new invention to appear and be widely adopted.

The second are those that come later than predicted but do come, often in a different manner than originally predicted but with the same impact. These are not much of a worry.

The third are those that just never happen. It may be due to technological issues, such as faster-than-light travel. It may be due to societal issues. Undersea cities come to mind. It may just be simple economics so that, by the time the technology is available, something else is better.

This latter case is the one alluded to in the introductory email.

It’s not enough just to open your mind. You also must practice some serious critical thinking so that you’re not protecting yourself from ghosts and using up valuable resources doing so.