A Decade of Influence: Changing the World by Design

By Michela O'Connor Abrams

Almost 20 years ago, in a book titled Cultural Creatives, sociologist Paul H. Ray and psychologist Sherry Ruth Anderson described a population of an estimated 50 million people who were characterized by these traits:

• Authenticity: actions must be consistent with words and beliefs

• Engaged action and whole process learning: seeing the world as interwoven and connected

• Idealism and activism

• Globalism and ecology

• The importance of women

• Core “Cultural Creatives” also value altruism, self-actualization, and spirituality.

Whether or not you ascribe to the “cultural creative” identity, these characteristics almost identically mirror our own Design Insights Forum.