Jake Dunagan is a research director at Institute for the Future (IFTF), where his focus is the examination of social invention and the redesign of systems in light of current and emerging tools and knowledge. He recently co-authored an IFTF paper, with Doug Rushkoff and David Pescovitz, on “The Biology of Disinformation” which is about, per Pescovitz, “how media viruses, bots and computational propaganda have redefined how information is weaponized for propaganda campaigns.” This Plutopia joint explores the topics advanced by the paper, and the evolving social media arms race of “fighting memes with memes.”
Jake has conducted research, written, and lectured on a wide range of topics, including strategic foresight, governance design, comprehensive cognitive design, intellectual property, judicial foresight, kids’ technologies, Internet law and politics, mobility, and the future of learning and work.
He originally joined IFTF in 2008 and brought with him the alternative futures methodology developed at the Manoa School of Futures Studies. He continues to explore new futures methodologies and also design artifacts, games, immersive experiences of future worlds, and guerilla public engagement projects that inject the future into the mental ecology of the present.
Jake holds a BA in visual anthropology from Auburn University, an MA in visual anthropology from Temple University, and a PhD from the Manoa School of Futures Studies at the University of Hawaii with an emphasis in neuropolitics, governance design, alternative futures, and communication of foresight. He is currently an adjunct professor in the MBA in Design Strategy program at the California College of the Arts, where he teaches strategic foresight, tactical media, and social invention.
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