Predicting the future

[Loppan Torkel]

http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2011/12/31/archives/retrospective/predictor.html

Yet each new year, a new batch of predictors offer us their forecasts for the future. Most are promptly forgotten. One who deserves to be remembered, though, is John Elfreth Watkins, Jr., a Post writer in the early 20th Century. Back in December 1900, he wrote his ideas about “What May Happen in the Next Hundred Years” for the Post’s sister publication, the Ladies’ Home Journal.

2 predictions from Watkins:

Photographs will reproduce all of nature’s colors… [They will be transmitted] from any distance. If there be a battle in China a hundred years hence, snapshots of its most striking events will be published in the newspapers an hour later.
...
A man or woman unable to walk ten miles at a stretch will be regarded as a weakling.

I like to read historic predictions for some reasons. This guy's were pretty good.

What do you think? Is it possible to forsee the future to the extent that it becomes a legit prophesy?

 

[Synobun]

Predictions in a lot of cases are helpful and accurate, especially in the science world. Predictions in the sense of the doomsday and menial things such as the breakfast a man will eat in three days, however, are pointless and rather idiotic to spend time with.

 

[warpus]

What do you think? Is it possible to forsee the future to the extent that it becomes a legit prophesy?

Not really.

Prophets are very hit & miss as well as being vague. Any sort of "successful" prophet you'll look up will satisfy both.

 

[Loppan Torkel]

No scientific space-time anomalies that could be taken advantage of?

 

[emzie]

No scientific space-time anomalies that could be taken advantage of?

His predictions weren't that specific. And even if they were, if you have thousands of people making specific predictions, some of them will be dead on by chance alone.

 

[Loppan Torkel]

His predictions weren't that specific. And even if they were, if you have thousands of people making specific predictions, some of them will be dead on by chance alone.

I didn't call him a prophet. He was just pretty good at seeing some things coming. Still fun to read what they thought 111 years ago.

 

[emzie]

I didn't call him a prophet. He was just pretty good at seeing some things coming. Still fun to read what they thought 111 years ago.

I believe it was Henry Ford who said the best use of making predictions about the future is to amuse people in the future.

 

[asbestos]

A university education will be free to every man and woman.

people should take it easy with the Utopian predictions.

 

[Graceheart the Leopard]

Photographs will reproduce all of nature’s colors.

That certainly came true much sooner than he probably thought:

 

[civ2]

I've seen interesting articles on how Sci-Fi is actually BOOSTING real science.
For example, many top-science inventions were somewhat "predicted" by fantasts.
Be it travel to the Moon or robots - most such things were somewhat depicted in previous Sci-Fi.
Which doesn't make them prophets at all - just that:
a. Most inventions were always there, quite often being employed by animals.
So, all we needed, was to get the right Science Scanner.
b. Also, many inventions were made to actually COPY those from Sci-Fi.
Meaning, it was the inspiration, rather than prediction.
And with science, quite often, if you look for something, there is a chance you'll gonna make it work, one way or another.

 

[innonimatu]

Predicting the next 100 years? Always good for laughs!

 

[Leonel]

The writers of the 80's tv show, Second Chance, apparently can!

That's supposed to be Muammar Gaddafi