By: Alireza Hejazi

Surely, choosing "Postnormal" word instead of "Postmodern" term has a deliberated meaning and purpose. Although the concept of "Postnormal" was first introduced by Jerry Ravetz, this shows how alert can we be in selecting such meaningful terms and using them to offer something new and different from regular Postmodern knowledge.

The Postnormal world will be an epilogue to a new age of normalcy. This concept may seem paradoxical, but it can be explained within an evolutional theoretical framework in which Postnormal characteristics will be transferred back into Normal ones.

What to do with "Postnormal" era? Good question! Answering it requires our intelligent focus on a period of transition (current era) in which a new modern future is shaping and is characterized by three signs of complexity, chaos and contradictions.

The results of this new era will be "uncertainty" and different types of "ignorance". Perhaps "uncertainty" is a more remarkable outcome, but I can elaborate better what I really mean by the term of "ignorance" within a futuristic literature and theoretical framework.

When contradictions, complexity and chaos combine with accelerating changes the only definite outcome is "uncertainty". In normal times, uncertainties are small and manageable. But in postnormal times, uncertainty takes centre stage.

What about "ignorance"? Let me bring you two cases. First, since everything is linked up and networked with everything else, a break down anywhere has a knock on effect, unsettling other parts of the network, even bringing down the whole network. Second, global warming is now causing 300,000 deaths a year and is directly affecting 300 million people in the least developed countries. You see how negligent many governments with these realities are. These are shocking signs of ignorance.

On the other hand, Postnormal era grants us a new perspective regarding the notions such as control and management. I think this concept can be highlighted in future discussions that may happen among the futurists. In general, the notion of "Modernization" and using it as a basis for next discussions can lead us to the pathology of modernization. The world itself is now a far more uncertain place than it was during the second half of the twentieth century. Yet, you have personally read such sentences several hundreds times in many journals and books, you should also personally think about them.

Familiar discussions on complexity, chaos and contradictions are enough complete to talk no more about them. They should be only taken seriously by all decision makers and consultants who shape future policies. Remember that one of the side effects of Postnormal era will be the creation of "Superclass". This term was originally used by CEIP scholars. Superclass is composed of elite members of the society who absorb significant portions of political, social and financial privileges.

According to some futurists, imagination sounds good as a way of dealing with complexity, but what we should also consider the probable differences between the outputs we are going to get from imagination in normal and Postnormal times. So old fashioned predictions, on which our economies and policies rely so much, have no value in situations of rapid, abrupt and unknown change that we are facing with in Postnormal era.

Think about mentioned above points and perhaps you may find more responses for the question raised at the beginning of this post.