The evolutionary pathways of social-ecological systems are marked by periods of structural continuity interspersed with convulsive change. Climate change, social disruption, economic breakdown, financial collapse, nuclear confrontation, or pandemics might all cause systemic global shocks in the coming decades. The ongoing COVID-19 epidemic is a real-time example of a break in historical continuity. Deep institutional and cultural upheavals, on the other hand, may quickly bring in more robust forms of global Civilization. These realistic scenarios call for scenario studies to focus on discontinuous futures, a requirement that has not been satisfied effectively. Several issues, including gradualist conceptions of change, scientific reluctance, the allure of quantitative tractability, and embeddedness in governmental processes, have rendered standard scenario analysis unsuitable for the task. The emphasis on consistency