Do Different Generations Have Different Collective Views of the Future?

A long title for an important question. I was supposed to write about a number of other topics before this: the most recent Foreign Affairs issue, the "Evolving Internet" set of scenarios that Cisco and the Global Business Network recently published, a view of energy in 2035 (FT article), Gartner's most recent emerging technologies hype cycle, or an AARP article on Boomers vs. Millennials. I'll get back to those later. This topic was more interesting to me over a Starbuck's peppermint mocha (not afraid to admit I drink those) than the others at the moment.

I was wondering about generational difference, specifically has there been research done on how different generations view the future? So, what do Boomers think 2025 is going to be like, and is it different from what Generation X and the Millennials think? Obviously each generation is shaped by different forces and naturally would have a different view of their own expected future.

I am not talking about an academic, intellectual's view of the future, what the brightest minds think, but what is the popular view of the future? Who has best communicated it from each generation? What medium is it communicated through? Is it a singular vision that people rally to, or is it a collective vision that emerged?

Plenty of quite brilliant people from one generation write about generational characteristics and differences in another, but I wonder if you were to actually ask members of each generation what is their view of the future at a particular point of time, would there be substantial differences? How does each generation's vision of tomorrow shape their actions and decisions regarding science, politics, economics and philosophical matters?

Part of me asking this stems from wondering if there is a Generation X or Y equivalent to Megatrends by John Naisbitt, or Future Shock and Powershift by Alvin Toffler. Those books were best sellers and probably influenced the thinking of a lot of people decades ago. Is there something similar that has been written by Generation X or Y authors yet? Is it coming? Will it still take the form of a book, journal or article? Or will it be a movie, a wiki, a website, a business model, or some sort of other interactive media experience?

I know that all that I have done here is pose a lot of questions in a fairly haphazard manner, which is fine by me. The challenge is to begin to attempt to answer them. I'll work on it and write more about my research as I learn more.

Note to self: I think that I will try and focus the blog on generational views of the future, optimistic scenarios for the future, planning for my summer graduate business course and news items regarding the future of various stuff.