Dec 27, 2021 7:00 AM

The History of Predicting the Future

Humans have long tried to determine the shape of what’s to come. But even the most advanced technology can’t solve the fundamental issues with predictions.

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The future has a history. The good news is that it’s one from which we can learn; the bad news is that we very rarely do. That’s because the clearest lesson from the history of the future is that knowing the future isn’t necessarily very useful. But that has yet to stop humans from trying.

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Collage of illustration of Oracle of Delphi and algorithmic equations

Amanda Rees is a historian of science based at the University of York who works on the history of the future, human-animal relationships, and science outside the lab. Her most recent book was Human, a short response to post-humanism, published by Reaktion Press in 2020. ... Read More

Ideas Contributor

TopicsFuture of Predictions History future artificial intelligence

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