Exclusive Series

The History
of the Future

by Larry A. Filoso

The History of the Future is a series of articles which examines the human desire to know the future before it happens. Stock market advice, weather predictions, economic forecasts, astrology, palmistry, all feed our yearning to know what will happen before it happens.

These articles study people in the past who have attempted to predict the future, the methods they used and how successful they were. There have been prophets, seers, shamans and charlatans in all cultures, for thousands of years.

Perhaps we want to know so that we can make plans, so that we can try to control and benefit from the constant change that is a part of life. The American founding father Benjamin Franklin said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” The sage Confucius said, “A man who does not plan long ahead will find trouble at his door.” Of course, as Taylor Swift said, “Just because you make a good plan, doesn’t mean that’s what’s gonna happen.”

Click on a title below to view it.

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