Creative people No #2 Buckminster Fuller.
“There is no energy crisis, only a crisis of ignorance.” 
I’m not sure how I came across Fuller but he has always intrigued me and as time goes onI think he was pretty amazing. He worked across multiple fields and was probably one of the first global environmentalists. I am quite biased but I think he is quite visionary and a truly original mind.
Why I have chosen him.
Born in 1895 Buckminster Fuller lived in a time that you could call pretty different to what the 21st Century looks like particularly in terms of the technological advancements and with the rapid emergence of the world wide web in recent years. However Buckminster had a pretty amazing insight into the future technology and a great philosophy to underpin it.
One of the things that have always intrigued me about Buckminster is in regard to the development of technology. He believed in progress, particularly that of a technological kind. He was of the belief that humanity would always progress and with technology playing a key part. Therefore he believed that humans should not halt the advancement of technology but think the reverse, in that we need to ensure that this is done in an ethical and environmentally friendly way.
He coined the term Ephemeralization, which is the ability of technological advancement to do “more and more with less and less until eventually you can do everything with nothing” As time goes on I am seeing his vision becoming pretty much the norm in many cases. For example, within the genre of music, the means to store musical data has shrunk in size, from the gramophone through the record and CD to its current incarnation on a mp3 player.
The move towards digital film watched through downloads suggests that cinema may be going the same way. Fuller had wide ranging interests, not only did he have a huge range of ecological interests, but also translated his ideas into real prototypes, especially the Dymaxion car which was not only years ahead of its time in technological terms, but also looked completely bonkers.
I guess it may be easy to be a “futurologist”, it’s the getting it right that is the only tricky bit. In his thinking about environmentalism years before such ideas became common currency, and in his many other interests, “Bucky” as he is affectionately known, has proved time and time again his visionary genius.
Links you might find interesting
Everything I know-Buckminster Fuller 1975
I'm Still Learning 