There are seeds of many potential futures already present. We can guess which ones will germinate into the future, but we cannot know for sure. A classic error is to assume that the future is merely an extrapolation of present trends. That doesn’t account for unexpected events, unforeseen consequences, random chance, shifts in consciousness, group dynamics, new ideas, new technology, disease outbreaks, revolutions or wars. The world is complex. We tend to notice the noise of conflict and suffering and get carried along by the tide of mainstream thought. Our attention focuses on what is prominent, threatening, attractive, unfair, frightening, exciting and emotionally salient. But there are many new ideas, behaviours, ways of organising, technologies, ideologies, social movements, social trends, diseases and geopolitical shifts quietly getting established, being tested, a small proportion of which will succeed and grow into the future. We don’t know which ones will be the future but we must make the soil fertile with maximum opportunity for creativity and experimentation as well as support in the early stages. The future is up for grabs. We have a chance to influence it if we want to and if we are willing to try.