Why and How to Predict a Future?
Before answering this question in detail, I would first like to quote from Ray Bradbury’s book “Beyond 1984: Remembrance of things future.” Bradbury was one of America’s most successful novelists, short story writers, playwrights, and screenwriters. Here is the short but very insightful excerpt from the book:
People ask me to predict the future, when all I want to do is prevent it. Better yet, build it. Predicting the future is much too easy, anyway. You look at the people around you, the street you stand on, the visible air you breathe, and predict more of the same. To hell with more. I want better.”
Similarly in the movie Back to the Future, Marty (a fictional character and the protagonist) also surely knows what the future is supposed to look like, and desperately seeks to set the correct events in motion to make that future happen.
In spite of that people are always naive enough to keep insisting to know what is going to happen in the future (next moment to the next millennium). Psychologists tell us that it is innate in all humans — a sensation much like hunger or thirst. Some suggest that it is also the fear of unknown (or hope of a miracle) that makes people want to know about the future. Winning a lottery (or most preferably a visa or nationality by Uncle Sam whom they also love to curse day and night) would, usually, be their number one choice.
However, IMHO, it is not just curiosity or fear of unknown, but mostly because people are not satisfied with their present circumstances or results of their own shenanigans and thus feel the need to hope for a miracle. They also don’t have the courage to accept who they are and what needs to be done. Thus they always hope to hear what they want to hear. In a nutshell, they are simply the people who don’t even believe in themselves.
There is a funny tale about a famous character “Sheikh Chilli” who was always daydreaming and was dumb enough to even understand the “Law of Gravity”.
“One day, Sheikh Chilli, needing a few logs of wood, went to the nearby forest with an axe in his hand, along with his friend. He climbed the tree and sat on a bough. Looking at the tree and the woods he started fancying about some fortunes. He closed his eyes and thought that he would cut some big logs from the tree and then sell them in the market. In return he will get enough money to save and make some investment. Then with the expansion of his business, he would hire other people to work for him. As he was fancying, he forgot that he was cutting the same branch of tree on which he himself was siting.
When his friend, standing on the ground, saw this, he warned him about the impending fall. But Sheikh ignored his warning and continued cutting the branch. Ultimately he fell down and got injured. But, instead of understanding the simple cause of his fall, he concluded that his friend knew about the future and made him his mentor to consult in every situation and ask about his future.
Moral of the story: What happens in the future is always the result of our own doings in the past and present that also keeps turning into the past, but we continue to act like fools.
Changing climate patterns and rising temperatures due to environmental disaster is the case in point.
In addition, the increasing incidences of wars, terrorism and many other problems, such as ruthless commercialism, consumerism, hyper individualism, corruption, chaos, anarchy, mental health problems etc. afflicting the world community are the results of our own doings and have not happened suddenly. But until some scientist or social leader does not predict further misfortunes and troubles we are not going to believe.
Thus, as some commentator aptly remarked, 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.
Regardless, we have our future always in our hands and don’t need to have skills of Nostradamus, the French astrologer and physician whose prophecies earned him fame and a loyal following during his lifetime.
There are also other sayings like this. For instance:
- The best way to predict the future is to create it (ascribed to both Peter Ducker and Abraham Lincoln)
- The future is not something we enter. The future is something we create.” ~ Leonard I. Sweet
- “The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” ~ Malcolm X
- “Go for it now. The future is promised to no one.” ~ Wayne Dyer
- “I never think of the future, it comes soon enough.” ~ Albert Einstein
All these quotes convey the same meaning: The Future is what you make of it, not what you walk into with your eyes closed. Hal Elrod, an American author, speaker and success coach said that the moment you accept the responsibility for everything in your life is the moment you you gain the power to change anything in your life. If you can identify your mistakes and your limitations, you can correct them and improve yourself. Or you can continue to play the blame game and give power to others who did create the problems for you in the first place.
Thus the other prediction (that is also the theme of the movie Back to the Future) can be that you don’t change and thus the future will also be the same as is your present. You will continue walking the beaten track. As simple as that.
Kindly support
I am not eligible for “Medium Partner Program” that allows writers to earn money from the content they publish on Medium. In spite of that I like to keep writing meaningful content. Therefore, need support from the generous readers like you and for that you just have to click below and buy me a coffee.
Thank you very much.
References:
i) https://www.history.co.uk/articles/nostradamus-which-of-his-predictions-came-true
