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Prospection

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The Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Possible

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Abstract

Prospection, also known as thinking about the future, is present uniquely in humans. Prospection allows us to simulate and predict future events, the emotions borne out of these events, plan for whether we want to head toward them or avoid them, and take appropriate actions to steer our future. In essence, prospection is a key part of what makes us human and is closely intertwined with the unlimited possibilities of the future.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Roy F. Baumeister & Kayne Lim

Authors
  1. Roy F. Baumeister
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  2. Kayne Lim
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Correspondence to Roy F. Baumeister .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Vlad Petre Glăveanu

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Electrical, Electronic, and Information Engineering “Guglielmo Marconi”, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Serena Mastria

  2. Marconi Institute for Creativity (MIC), Villa Griffone, Sasso Marconi, Italy

    Serena Mastria

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Baumeister, R.F., Lim, K. (2022). Prospection. In: Glăveanu, V.P. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Possible. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90913-0_138

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