Contemplating the future may go no further than deciding what we'll eat for our next meal. But for a group of professionals meeting this week in Minneapolis, the future conjures up questions- and answers- to much bigger issues... like how current forces of change will affect business, culture, health, religion and technology. John Mahaffie is a futurist at Coates and Jarrat Incorporated, a Washington D-C based futurist consulting firm-- and a speaker this week's World Future Society convention. He says his main job as a futurist is distinguishing lasting trends from simple fads: