Which Futurist Are You? Doom Prepper, Tech Worshipper, or Somewhere in the Murky Middle? – Taylen Carver

So, I’ve been in a bit of a spiral lately. You know how it goes. You start off with “What happens if the economy tanks?” and four hours later, you’re elbow-deep in a John Michael Greer blog post about catabolic collapse and wondering if it’s time to start hoarding seeds.

Why? Partly because North American politics are a slow-motion train wreck, and partly because I’m plotting out the second book in the Scorched Lands Saga. If you’ve read Ash and Angel, you know the world in that series isn’t “a hair’s breadth from crumbling.” It’s already crumbled. Fifty years ago, the apocalypse came, and now what’s left of humanity is scratching out a shaky, feral survival alongside the old races.

And here’s the thing: the more I dig into these futurist thinkers, the more it feels like we’re living in that world already. Or at least wandering the outer edges of it. So, let’s talk about some of the loudest (and strangest) voices forecasting our future and how well their predictions are holding up.

Meet the Futurists: From “Get a Bunker” to “Get a Neuralink”

There’s a whole spectrum of thinkers who make their living shouting “Here’s What’s Coming!” Some of them are basically walking EMP alarms; others are convinced we’ll all be uploading our consciousness to the cloud by next Thursday. Here’s where some of the key voices fall:

1. John Michael Greer – Doom with a Spiritual Twist

Vibe: Society is a rotting house that’s about to collapse, but hey, let’s grow some carrots and meditate while it happens.
Position on the Spectrum: Full-on collapse, but not in a Hollywood fire-and-brimstone way. More like slow-motion entropy.
Recent Reality Check: COVID, the energy crunch in Europe, and the slow digital decline (RIP Twitter) all match his predictions. But the internet’s still here, and AI is booming, so we’re not quite in his dark age yet.
Dive into Greer’s world

2. Richard Heinberg – Peak Everything

Vibe: We’re running out of stuff. Oil, water, sanity—you name it.
Position on the Spectrum: Collapse Lite™ – less Mad Max, more societal slow-leak.
Recent Reality Check: Heinberg said the energy transition would be brutal, and here we are, throwing solar panels at a problem that’s way bigger than power grids.
Heinberg’s Latest

3. David Holmgren – Permaculture or Bust

Vibe: The world’s a mess, but we can plant our way through it.
Position on the Spectrum: Halfway between “Let’s knit our own socks” and “Let’s nationalize the power grid.”
Recent Reality Check: He’s been on about local resilience forever, and now that everyone and their uncle is panic-buying chickens, he’s looking pretty damn prescient.
Permaculture Deep Dive

4. Nate Hagens – The Great Simplification

Vibe: Society’s built on cheap energy and infinite growth, but those days are over. Time to downshift, folks.
Position on the Spectrum: Middle of the road, but the road’s getting bumpier.
Recent Reality Check: He predicted we’d be throwing tech at every problem while the actual systems hollow out. AI? Check. Climate disasters? Check. Billionaires buying up farmland? Double check.
Nate’s Take

5. Vaclav Smil – Data, Data, Data

Vibe: Let’s not get hysterical; let’s get numerical.
Position on the Spectrum: Grim pragmatist. He’s not a doomer, but he’s also not a fan of Muskian fairy tales.
Recent Reality Check: Smil said we’d drag our feet on energy transition until the crisis was screaming in our ears. The guy’s a walking “I told you so.”
Smil’s Publications

6. Adam Tooze – The Big-Picture Guy

Vibe: Everything’s connected, and most of it’s on fire.
Position on the Spectrum: “We’re in trouble, but it’s complicated.”
Recent Reality Check: Tooze called it: The financial system is a Rube Goldberg machine held together with duct tape and debt.
Tooze’s Charts

7. Elon Musk – The Techno-Optimist

Vibe: Let’s just build a rocket and leave.
Position on the Spectrum: At the far end of “What, Me Worry?”
Recent Reality Check: Musk’s predicted AI explosion is here, but that whole “colonizing Mars by 2025” thing is starting to look more like a Saturday Night Live sketch.
Musk’s Latest

Why Should You Care?

Because we’re living it. Greer and Hagens are out here saying, “Hey, remember that supply chain breakdown we told you about? This is just the start.” Meanwhile, Musk is building robots, and Smil is sitting there, arms crossed, saying, “I give it ten years before we all regret not learning how to compost.”

For me, this stuff isn’t just intellectual curiosity—it’s fuel for my writing. The Scorched Lands Saga is a world where the wheels have come off civilization, and the survivors are scrambling to stitch together a new way of life. Sound familiar? And no, I’m not saying we’re about to plunge into Mad Max territory (though it’d make a killer plot twist). But knowing what these guys are saying—and where they’re getting it wrong—helps me build a world that feels real, grounded, and just a little too close for comfort.

Also, it’s just good sense. Even the Canadian government is gently suggesting we keep three days’ worth of supplies on hand, and they’re not exactly conspiracy nuts up here. This isn’t about getting a bunker and a crossbow; it’s about having enough batteries and canned beans that you’re not fighting your neighbors over the last flashlight at Walmart.

Your Turn – Who’s On Your Radar?

Have you been reading anyone who seems a little too on-the-nose with their predictions? Is there a voice I missed? Share your favorite futurists in the comments, and let me know if you’re leaning toward bunker prep, tech dreams, or somewhere in between.