Visionary is an adjective that is often used to describe a person who, thanks to their creativity, imagination or knowledge, is able to predict what will happen in the future. The concept, in this way, is associated with a certain vision of the events to come.
For example: “Julius Verne was a visionary: in his novels he anticipated the creation of the submarine and spaceships”, “Many consider that Steve Jobs was a visionary who knew how to focus his business on the new technological market”, “I am not a visionary, I simply analyze the current situation and draw conclusions for the future”.
In general, anyone who is ahead of his time is called a visionary. Take the case of a radio station owner who, while all his competitors were investing in antennas, decided to turn to Internet streaming. Thus, his radio was the first station in his city that, in the mid-90s, began to broadcast its programming over the Internet. Taking into account the development of the sector and the fact that later the other announcers joined the trend, it can be said that this man was a visionary. There is no magic formula to become a visionary, nor is it possible to obtain a talent by will: it is something you are born with and, in fact, very few people have it. On the other hand, it is not enough to have a certain skill, but it is necessary to work to develop it and be able to use it with greater precision and efficiency. Taking one of the previous examples, Jules Verne is considered one of the great visionaries of history, as well as an exceptional writer, but the phenomena and creations that he anticipated with his art did not emerge as mere comments while drinking his coffee. . Rather, they reflect the result of his work and dedication, of his approach to those subjects that fascinated him in order to learn more and fly beyond what had been invented up to his time. Of Steve Jobs, we can also say that the best projects he collaborated on did not happen overnight, but rather emerged from a magical combination of market observation and innovative ideas to bring you something that was not yet in circulation. The vision of something unprecedented does not always lead to profound changes in society, but it is also a mistake to say that if you do not achieve it, it is not something really valuable.
Throughout history, some people were quick to present their innovative ideas to the rest of the people, or they did it in the wrong way, and this caused them to fail and even to be severely criticized or questioned. However, in certain cases, it only took a while for the situation to reverse, and these ideas finally found their place in the plan of the great creations. From this we can infer that the great visionaries not only had brilliant ideas ahead of their time, but also knew how to show them, even if it took them several tries. As part of the vision must be the social and historical context, the knowledge of the tools that the environment needs to understand and accept it. People who are attributed powers of divination such as tarot readers, prophets or fortune tellers, can also be called seers. The same happens with the artists who became precursors of styles, genres or movements: “A Japanese visionary affirms that the end of the world will happen in 2065”, “Miles Davis was a visionary musician who revolutionized jazz. “
