Editing Visionary (section)

== Extended meanings ==

A vision can be political, religious, environmental, social, or technological in nature. By extension, a visionary can also be a person with a clear, distinctive, and specific (in some details) vision of the future, usually connected with advances in [[technology]] or social/political arrangements. For example, [[Ted Nelson]] is referred to as a visionary in connection with the [[Internet]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1581891.stm BBC News | SCI/TECH | Visionary lays into the web<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Other visionaries simply imagine what does not yet exist but might someday, as some forms of "visioning"  (or gazing) provide a glimpse into the possible future. Therefore, visioning can mean seeing in a [[utopian]] way what does not yet exist on earth—but might exist in another realm—such as the [[ideal (ethics)|ideal]] or perfect realm as imagined or thought. Examples are [[Buckminster Fuller]] in [[architecture]] and [[design]], [[Malcolm Bricklin]] in the automobile industry and [[Ada Lovelace]] in computing. Some people use [[mathematics]] to make visionary discoveries in the nature of the [[universe]]. In that sense, a visionary may also function as a secular [[prophet]]. Some visionaries emphasize [[communication]], and some assume a figurehead role in organizing a social group. In other words, a visionary means that a person can see what something could be long before it actually happens.