Have you ever wondered how to make sense of our complex and chaotic times? Maybe you’ve questioned the impact of this ever-changing world on your life?‬‬

On Thursday, Jan. 30, from 2-3:15 p.m., Professors Ziauddin Sardar and John Sweeney from the Centre for Postnormal Policy and Future Studies (CPPFS) will be at Skutt Student Center, Room 105 to discuss these “postnormal times,” or PNT.‬‬

                   According to a 1993 article by British philosopher Jerome Ravetz and Argentinean mathematician Silvio Funtowicz, they coined the term in 1991; they later said, “…we discover that facts are uncertain, complexity is the norm…” Thus, postnormal science, or PNS, became an official field of study.‬‬

                    Sardar, a Pakistani-born British futurist professor and Sweeney, a doctoral candidate at the University of Hawai’i, Manoa, will explain how to make sense of our present and our future. Their main points will be: complexity, chaos, contradictions, uncertainty, progress, modernization, efficiency, virtues and imagination. Responding to an email request, Sweeney added: “the three driving forces of PNT are complexity, chaos and contradictions. There are no simple solutions. Questions themselves are becoming harder to explain.”‬‬

                    If this sounds more complicated to you than quantum physics to a six-year-old, you are not alone. PNS, by its very nature, is complicated. Changing geopolitical landscapes, rapid globalization, nuclear threats and climate change all play a part in a messy global picture.‬‬

                    Should we panic? Not necessarily. There are simply complex causes with complex effects. Regarding his branch of expertise, British philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote: “…the first difficulty is to see that the problem is difficult.” For today’s world, Australian philosopher of science Paul Cilliers echoed that idea, “To fully understand a complex system, we need to understand it in all its complexity.”‬‬

If this sounds dismal, it shouldn’t. After all, Sweeney wrote, “[a]ccelerating rates of changes are enlivening new challenges and opportunities.”‬‬

At 2p.m., take the opportunity to head to the Skutt Student Center, Room 105 and see what our future may hold. While it still deals with uncertainty, the science behind our “postnormal times” is still more reliable than your daily horoscope. This event is also free and open to the public.