Impact Trust • Working glossary

Extended present

Planning as if the future will be a continuation of present conditions with minor adjustments.

Details

Our Take
Names a cognitive trap. The extended present is comfortable: it means you can use existing tools, existing structures, existing metrics. The polycrisis demands a different posture -- one that treats discontinuity as normal rather than exceptional. Most National Societies are living in the extended present. Investing in futures literacy is explicitly about breaking it.
Examples of Use
Futures studies
Synonyms/Variants
Continuity bias; Status quo extrapolation; Linear planning assumption
Typical everyday wording
Planning as if tomorrow will be like today, just slightly different