In the 1980's, two other professors and I taught a course called "Futures". One was a historian of science and the other an environmentalist. We were sparked by the book "Limits to Growth", a book by serious people who tried to predict when pollution would overrun us, oil and gas would be used up and our supply of fresh water, too. That sort of disaster was predicted for the year 2025, I think. We read many other predictions and found most uncheckable, unfalsifiable, undated. I have read that the oracle at Delphi in ancient Greece made the prediction "The Persians the Greeks will defeat", just vague enough about who would win and when that it goes in the unverifiable bin.
My great grandson showed me a YouTube tape he was interested in. It was a comparison of video games that purported to be about the future but which turned out to be the actual events after the game was produced. So, somebody thought they would take some of the games currently on the market and make predictions about the future of society, human life in general and the living conditions on our planet at various times in the future. I wasn't impressed since I have found so many predictions that are dire (pleasant ones don't get any publicity) but undated and quite possibly unfounded.
Shortly after, I came across this BBC timeline for Earth over the next 10 quadrillion years. I don' t expect to be conscious or worried about the environment then but you make want to take a look. The graphic alone is worth seeing.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140105-timeline-of-the-far-future.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
