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frustratedpilotFrom March of 2002:
"Hi.
I noticed that the local library where I am still has a copy of the 1981 Book of Predictions (from the series that included the Books of Lists). So today I took a peek inside to see what was being predicted and by whom, and what should have happened by now. There were some surprises.
1) More than one expert predicted the fall of the Soviet Union. One prediction was within one year of when it really happened.
2) Somebody predicted a scandal in the government of the U.S. that resembled what happened with Oliver North and Iran-Contra.
3) Somebody predicted that a high-profile televised court case would oust the soap operas from the TV networks.
4) Many of the predictions involving the prevalence of the computer chip and related media have come to pass, including E-Mail, hand-held phones, and PDAs.
On the other hand, we have a pile of prophesied events that did not happen, and things that have not yet come (if they ever do):
* Passage of the Equal Rights Amendment
* Emergence of large-scale Solar Power
* Collapse of the Public Education System
* Collapse/Reform of Agriculture System (factory-farms cease to exist because of high costs, replaced by smaller, more efficient farms and hydroponics)
* Permanent Fuel Rationing laws imposed
* Nuclear War, or a large-scale conventional war in North America
* Global Government, preluded by the merger of the United States and Canada into one nation
* Permanent colonies in Earth orbit and on Luna
* Economic Depression triggered by a massive corporate bankruptcy domino-effect. This and increasing automation drive almost everybody out of work.
* Legalization of Marijuana (starting with the South American nations, then individual states in the U.S.)
* De-Urbanization...city centers are razed and the space turned into more modern living area ala Suburbia
* Nationalization of all police, medical, emergency and social services.
* Laser weaponry becoming widely available, replacing firearms in most militaries
* Powered armor for infantry soldiers
* Bullet trains in the U.S.
* Nuclear families fall out of practice, replaced by people either living alone or families merging into extended clans
* Mass extinctions of animals, including whales
* Undersea habitats
* Passenger space travel (space shuttles being put into series production)
* First war in space, fought almost entirely by automated defense satellites
* 3D TV
* Bionic organs becoming commonplace
* Hovercar vehicles leading to the decline of asphalt paving
* Contact with extraterrestial civilizations
And this is just scratching the surface."
"Hi.
I noticed that the local library where I am still has a copy of the 1981 Book of Predictions (from the series that included the Books of Lists). So today I took a peek inside to see what was being predicted and by whom, and what should have happened by now. There were some surprises.
1) More than one expert predicted the fall of the Soviet Union. One prediction was within one year of when it really happened.
2) Somebody predicted a scandal in the government of the U.S. that resembled what happened with Oliver North and Iran-Contra.
3) Somebody predicted that a high-profile televised court case would oust the soap operas from the TV networks.
4) Many of the predictions involving the prevalence of the computer chip and related media have come to pass, including E-Mail, hand-held phones, and PDAs.
On the other hand, we have a pile of prophesied events that did not happen, and things that have not yet come (if they ever do):
* Passage of the Equal Rights Amendment
* Emergence of large-scale Solar Power
* Collapse of the Public Education System
* Collapse/Reform of Agriculture System (factory-farms cease to exist because of high costs, replaced by smaller, more efficient farms and hydroponics)
* Permanent Fuel Rationing laws imposed
* Nuclear War, or a large-scale conventional war in North America
* Global Government, preluded by the merger of the United States and Canada into one nation
* Permanent colonies in Earth orbit and on Luna
* Economic Depression triggered by a massive corporate bankruptcy domino-effect. This and increasing automation drive almost everybody out of work.
* Legalization of Marijuana (starting with the South American nations, then individual states in the U.S.)
* De-Urbanization...city centers are razed and the space turned into more modern living area ala Suburbia
* Nationalization of all police, medical, emergency and social services.
* Laser weaponry becoming widely available, replacing firearms in most militaries
* Powered armor for infantry soldiers
* Bullet trains in the U.S.
* Nuclear families fall out of practice, replaced by people either living alone or families merging into extended clans
* Mass extinctions of animals, including whales
* Undersea habitats
* Passenger space travel (space shuttles being put into series production)
* First war in space, fought almost entirely by automated defense satellites
* 3D TV
* Bionic organs becoming commonplace
* Hovercar vehicles leading to the decline of asphalt paving
* Contact with extraterrestial civilizations
And this is just scratching the surface."
