Readers reply: what have been the most prescient or accurate predictions of the future?
The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions considers the art of soothsaying, prognostication and futurism
TL;DR
- A 1967 Philco-Ford video '1999AD' accurately predicted online shopping, CCTV, fax/email, and electronic banking.
- Early 1990s primary school books foresaw online shopping and emailing libraries for homework.
- Star Trek's handheld communicators inspired Apple's iPhone and iPad.
- Joseph Kennedy's cryptic 'It will fluctuate' prediction about the stock market is noted.
- George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' and Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World' are discussed as prescient literary works.
- The Fall's 1980 song 'The North Will Rise Again' contained lyrics that eerily matched events in Manchester and London in 1996.
- Sinclair Lewis's 1935 novel 'It Can't Happen Here' is seen as a clairvoyant read in the context of Trump's presidency.
- The Simpsons' prediction of Trump's presidency is mentioned.
- Otto Strasser is credited with predicting the rise of fascism and the banning of the left.
- Edmond Halley accurately predicted the return of his namesake comet.
- Velimir Khlebnikov and Vladimir Mayakovsky made predictions about the collapse of states and revolutions.
- Frederik Pohl, Cyril M Kornbluth, and E.M. Forster's works are cited for their insightful predictions.
- Neal Stephenson's 'Snow Crash' accurately predicted the evolution of the internet and virtual worlds.
- Svante August Arrhenius correctly predicted in 1896 that increased carbon dioxide levels would lead to global warming.
- The 'Star Trek effect' is noted, where fictional technology inspires future inventions.