Prompt 1 (Page 1): Don’t worry, Australia—you’re not alone.

(More on loneliness later.) In Canada, a proposed high-speed rail

network had its target speed slashed before being rebranded as a
high frequency network. In many developed countries, ambitious
projects have gone out of fashion in favor of slow, incremental ones.
Check out the mega projects below, as well as those from your own
country, then discuss with your team: is this shift in approach
justified? How might megaprojects (or their failure) affect the way
people perceive progress? And are some countries more
consistently successful at these projects?

Prompt 2 (Page 18): Some poets have also taken a swing at predicting the
future. Consider the selections below, then discuss with your team: how
seriously were they intended to tell the future? Is poetry (with its often murky
meanings) the perfect vehicle for prophecy?

Prompt 3 (Page 21): Anthropologists believe that this sort of divination is a

practice as old as Neolithic humans. Look briefly (no rabbit holes, please)
into the following ancient divination techniques, then discuss with your team:
which are still practiced today, and, if they seem hard to believe now, why do
you think so many people once believed in them?

Prompt 4 (Page 30): Firefighter, astronaut, investment banker—diviner of the

future? If you’re thinking about future careers, consider a career in thinking
about the future. Explore the following future-telling occupations, then
discuss with your team: should governments regulate this industry, and, if
so, how?

Prompt 5 (Page 50): While those predicting the future cast their gaze forward
to tomorrow and the days after, some artists cast their gaze (and
occasionally their glaze) toward those making the predictions. Review the
following artworks with your team, then discuss with your team: what are
they trying to tell us?
Prompt 6 (Page 63): Certain methods of divination seem more reliable than
they are. Explore the following examples and terms, then discuss with your
team: why is divination enjoying a resurgence amongst young people today?
Is the future trending?

Prompt 7 (page 68): Not all methods of foretelling the future are rooted in
superstition or ritual; some stem from long-term observations and lived
experiences. For example, the Chinese agricultural calendar is based on
centuries observing the weather and the movement of celestial bodies. The
result is a calendar that reliably predicts the movements of the sun and
moon, ocean tides, astronomical events, and the turning of the seasons—one
still referenced by farmers today. Research the following and explore with
your team: are there any other reliable not-quite scientific methods of
predicting the future that merit continued study?

Prompt 8 (Page 78): A butterfly flaps its wings and a hurricane (eventually)
pops to life on the other side of the world. Small changes can have large
impacts that may not be as random (or unpredictable) as they seem. Explore
the field of chaos theory, which attempts to understand how complex
systems are built up from simple parts, then discuss with your team: are
there examples of such systems in society, and can they help us tell the
future? Be sure to explore the following terms:

Prompt 9 (Page 92): “Ripped jeans will be back in fashion in 20 years”, says
one pundit. “We’ve been in a decade-long bull market, but just you wait for
the bear market”, says another. Research the following popular “cycles” in
public discourse today and explore with your team: what do they purport to
predict, and how accurate are their predictions? Can a popular “cycle” ever
become a scientific model?

Prompt 10 (page 121): Explore the following futuristic technologies that

failed to be widely adopted. What prevented their success, and is there a
situation in the future where they might find popularity?

Prompt 11 (Page 149): For many, the 1990s were an unabashedly optimistic
time; the academic Francis Fukuyama infamously suggested we might have
reached the end of history, or at least the end of conflicts between
dictatorships and democracies. This optimism extended beyond political and
academic circles into popular culture. Review the following artworks, then
discuss with your team: what kind of excitement did they reflect for the
upcoming century? Were they justified?

Prompt 12 (page 155): The New Age movement of the late 20th century
represents a revival in the interest of occult and metaphysical ideas, with
many of its practitioners very much into love, harmony, and personal
transformation and healing. Explore the following works associated with the
movement, and discuss with your team: do such messages still resonate
today?

Prompt 13 (page 165): Rasputin may be the most famous Russian monk, but
he wasn’t the first to opine on geopolitical affairs. In the 16th century, his
distant (and also lushly-bearded) predecessor Filofei proposed (in letters to a
young prince named Vassilij) that Russia could be the third Rome. Consider
what he meant then and what the implications of his suggestion might be
today, then discuss with your team: could there be another Rome in our own
era, and would it be good for the world if there were? Would Greenland be
part of it? Be sure to explore the following concepts:

Prompt 14 (page 172): Rome isn’t the only empire that keeps popping back
up. Like certain movie franchises, a great empire can only fall once, but it
can be revived—usually unsuccessfully—many times. Study the history of
second chances at imperial grandeur. What were they trying to emulate or
continue, and how close did they come to succeeding? Did any last longer
than the regimes they sought to restart?

Prompt 15 (page 198): Destroyed buildings can also have second leases on
life. Consider the following examples, then discuss with your team: is a
reconstruction of a building a continuation or something altogether new?

Prompt 16 (page 220): Sometime in 2025, a dead airline will return to the
skies. A private company is planning to de-extinct the once-legendary airline
brand Pan Am for some very expensive charter flights, with hints of bringing
it back in a bigger fashion down the line. And, speaking of fashion, Pan Am
has already been revived as a South Korean clothing brand. Consider the
examples below of other brand names that have been brought back from the
dead to sell new products and services–even if they are unconnected to the
companies that spawned them. Discuss with your team: is this kind of
branding dishonest, and what derelict brands or companies would you want
to reintroduce–and in what forms?

Prompt 17 (Page 234): Could 3.5 inch floppy discs be next? (They do make
good coasters.) From audio cassettes to instant cameras, many vintage
technologies are enjoying a resurgence today, often driven by viral online
trends that celebrate their limitations. Discuss with your team: why do some
products and brands become popular again after gathering dust for so long?
When do you prefer something older and (technically) worse to something
newer and (technically) better?

Prompt 18 (page 254): The Hangzhou Round famously caught fire. But what
is a fire, and how does it burn? Begin your exploration of this topic with the
terms below:

Prompt 19 (page 262): One way or another, people did start the fire. While
fires can occur naturally, different methods—such as matches, and episodes
of the Apprentice—now allow us to start them at will. Investigate historical
fire-starting, from stones and flint to ants and lenses. Discuss with your
team: should children be taught how to start fires—and, if so, at what age?

Prompt 20 (page 287): Music can be explosive; it can also be about

explosives. Listen to the works below to see how the creators treat fireworks
in their music. Are they celebrating or criticizing them, or is it impossible to
tell? What instruments or lyrics do they use to channel the feeling of
fireworks?
Prompt 21 (page 299): Consider the fire-related selections below, then
discuss with your team: do they treat fire literally or metaphorically, and to
what end?

Prompt 22 (page 311): JFK’s most famous speech may have been about
going to the moon, but that giant leap was a lot easier to achieve than peace
in his (or our) time. Watch these selected excerpts from his “peace speech”
at American University, then discuss with your team: is it possible to give a
passionate speech about peace, and, if so, does JFK succeed here? Is he
naïve about the role of the United States in world affairs? Then consider the
speeches listed below and discuss with your team: are they, too,
inspirational—or naïve? Can they be both?

Prompt 23 (page 334): Some people claim not to believe anything politicians
say. For them, political speeches are works of fiction. But fictional politicians
also give speeches—some of them very effectively. Consider the example
below, then discuss with your team: what made them effective, and would
they have worked equally well in the real world?

Prompt 24 (page 344): Explore the history of broadcasting and mass

communication. How does technology impact the effectiveness and reach of
speeches, news, and entertainment programs? Be sure to explore the
following historically significant examples and discuss: how did technologies
(new or repurposed) make each of them possible, and could they have
worked in different mediums? For instance, would FDR’s fireside chats have
been as effective if delivered over the Internet?

Prompt 25 (page 367): “Time of death,” says a doctor on TV, after frantic
efforts to get someone’s heart pumping again fail, “5:11 am.” If it were only
that simple! Research is increasingly suggesting that death is a complex
process, sometimes reversible—sometimes not. Explore the differences
between resuscitation and resurrection, then, without getting too dark,
discuss with your team: how much of a person’s mind needs to be intact for
it to be a good idea to keep them alive—and who should decide? You may
also want to explore some historical ideas about what happens after death,
including those below:
Prompt 26 (page 390): People have searched for ways to live forever—well,
basically forever. Today, many fields of scientific research, many spurred on
by billionaires, promise that we are on the cusp of finding the answer—or at
least a way to extend our lives in unprecedented ways. Explore the following
technologies and discuss with your team: would you choose to undergo
these treatments if they were available to you? Would it be good for society
if people lived for centuries?

Prompt 27 (page 406): The manga series Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
portrays a 1000-year old elf with one regret: not getting to know her human
companions better before they passed away. This is just one story in a long
line of literary works exploring immortality and its consequences. Read the
examples below, then discuss with your team: why is immortality such an
attractive subject for storytellers? What are some common implications of
immortality that they explore?

Prompt 28 (page 413): The third book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy is titled
The Return of the King; in it (spoilers ahead) the character Aragorn returns to
unite humanity against a dire threat. The idea of a prophesied king
reappearing and bringing his people together again against a formidable foe
is common in literary history, from the overtold legend of King Arthur to the
incomplete story of Jon Snow. Explore some of the following legends, then
discuss with your team: why do such stories have such appeal? What
political developments in today’s world might have similar causes?

Prompt 29 (page 421): When at first you don’t succeed, try and try again—
and, likely as not, flop harder. Napoleon Bonaparte returned from exile in
Elba as a self-reproclaimed emperor, only to drown in misfortune at Waterloo.
Look into the following figures whose careers took off post-exile, then discuss
with your team: why was their second wind better than their first? Can you
think of other examples of individuals, like Napoleon, who attempted a
comeback—but failed spectacularly?
Prompt 30 (page 431): “Funny when you're dead, how people start listenin'”
quipped the 2010 hit song “If I Die Young”. Consider the other now-famous
dead people below and discuss with your team: what is the best way to
reignite someone’s legacy? Vincent van Gogh, for instance, only became
famous after his death thanks to the people in his life. Should we focus more
on studying the works of those who are still alive, or does a creator’s death
make their creations more interesting in some way?

Prompt 31 (page 441): Sometimes cars don’t start—but when they do, how
does it happen? Explore the ways in which cars can be powered on. And
that’s only the start(er): once a car is moving, it speeds away propelled by a
series of mini-explosions that keep moving it along until the next traffic jam.
With your team, explore the science behind internal combustion engines.
How do they work, when were they invented, and are they obsolete? Be sure
to consider the following topics:

Prompt 32 (page 455): Volcanoes explode, and it’s not baking soda bubbling
up inside of them. Explore the science of volcanic eruptions and study their
consequences. Review the following cases and research: when and why do
dormant volcanoes reawaken, and does human activity play a role? Also,
what is an igneous rock?

Prompt 33 (page 484): Like dormant volcanoes, not every war can be
suppressed forever. Treaties break; truces fail to hold. Explore why some
periods of conflict lasted as long as they did, then discuss with your team:
what does it take to “put out” a war so that it doesn’t reignite? To what
extent were there periods of quiet within the larger scope of the violence
around them? Is the best way to achieve a lasting peace for one side to win a
conflict decisively?

Prompt 34 (page 494): Consider the neurobiology of imagination: what

actually happens in your brain when you are imagining things? Explore the
terms below, then hypothesize with your team: how might a person’s
imagination be affected if you alter one or more of these elements? How do
they relate to emotions, belief, suppositions, and fantasy?
Prompt 35 (page 506): While how to become more imaginative is a question
most frequently answered by self-help publications and clinics that also offer
derriere implants, some mainstream treatments and techniques do exist and
are practiced in the real world. Explore the following approaches and terms
then discuss with your team: which do you think would be most effective?

Prompt 36 (page 526): One used by writers is called “writing with

constraints”. If their options are limited—for instance, if they cannot use the
letter A in a story—someone struggling to put words on a blank page might
dodge that first paralyzing moment of decision-making. Artificial limitations
“provide a certain level of texture against which a metaphorical match can
more easily be struck,” says the writer Matthew Tomkinson. Many traditional
poetic forms—especially strict ones, such as haiku—are examples of this
approach. Read about others here across different genres, including those of
the French Oulipo movement, then learn more about the selections below.
Afterward, discuss with your team: should more creators use this technique?
When they do, should it be advertised to the public? Would you want to try it
for your World Scholar’s Cup writing event?

Prompt 37 (page 540): Disney’s theme park designers are infamously

branded as “Imagineers”—in just one of the many ways that imagination is
celebrated in popular culture. Check out the following works, then discuss
with your team: what perspective do they take on imagination? Do they
share any common messages?

Prompt 38 (page 550): Some creative works—including film, theatrical

productions, and even novels—fail at the first go, but are then reworked in
new ways months, years, or even decades later, in hopes that they can find
that missing spark. Consider the musical Ragtime as an example of this kind
of rebuilding project, then explore the selections below. In which cases did
the new version of a project succeed where the first hadn’t? Should the early
incarnations of a piece be studied alongside those that succeeded later, or
left in the dustbin of history?
Prompt 39 (page 568): Some people’s fingers whirl across the screen tapping
and flicking with uncanny efficiency; others hesitate, or aim and miss, or fire
at things that aren’t there. Rhythm games are a great source of
entertainment, but they can also help people with injuries—or even brain
damage—rebuild their motor and mental skills. Consider their broader history
of rhythm games, learn more about (and hopefully play!) the examples
below, and then discuss with your team: how could rhythm games be used in
schools for educational purposes? What kind of rhythm game would you
design if you wanted to create a popular product? And could rhythm games
be changing how future music is composed and appreciated?

Prompt 40 (page 586): The future began in 1909—or, at least, futurism did.
When Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti coined the word 'futurism', he
imagined a world of speed, danger, and beauty. To him, this future could be
found in the swift efficiency of the automobile. Today’s futurists look further
ahead to artificial intelligence, space travel, and the blending of human and
machine. Explore the origin and development of futurism, then discuss with
your team: how is it different from science fiction—or is it? Should we value
works that predicted futures that never came to be? Be sure to look into the
two early futurist works listed below:

Prompt 41 (page 595): Later artists and writers adapted futurism’s interest in
technology to imagine liberation and empowerment for different
communities. Research the history of Afrofuturism, from its origins in the
Space Age to Marvel’s Wakanda Forever, then discuss with your team: what
makes something 'Afrofuturist'? Could an artist be 'Asiafuturist' or
'Amerifuturist' instead? Consider the following selections:

Prompt 42 (page 601): Solarpunk offers a more optimistic vision of the

future, one in which technology and nature exist in harmony rather than
conflict. Consider Sim City 2000’s arcologies, futuristic mega-structures
designed to support entire communities. In the real world, solarpunk can
inform anything from architecture to game design. Consider the following
works. How do they convey a feeling of optimism about technology and the
future, and have any solarpunk dreams been realized? Discuss with your
team: would you like to live in a solarpunk future?
Prompt 43 (page 616): The atompunk movement imagines what the world
would have been like if the “Atomic Age” after World War II had continued to
flourish on to the present day. Explore works in this style, including the
Fallout video game and TV series along with those below, then discuss with
your team: would you want to live in an atompunk vision of the present?