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cover of episode Selects: How Futurology Works

Selects: How Futurology Works

2024/9/7
logo of podcast Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

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C
Chuck
J
Josh
著名财务顾问和媒体人物,创立了广受欢迎的“婴儿步骤”财务计划。
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Josh和Chuck探讨了未来学,认为其既包括对经济等日常现象的预测,也包括对未来科技和生活方式的预测。他们比较了科幻作家和未来学家的预测方法,认为科幻作家不受逻辑限制,而未来学家需要运用逻辑推理。他们还分析了未来学预测受时代背景的影响,指出不同时代社会背景下的预测结果差异很大。他们认为未来学预测本质上是对当下或近期过去的解读和推演,难以真正预测未来,但未来学预测有时非常准确,有时又完全错误。他们介绍了德尔菲法、情景规划、倒推法等未来学常用的预测方法,并以Herman Kahn和罗马俱乐部的观点为例,说明了未来学预测的局限性。他们还讨论了摩尔定律等比较成功的未来学预测案例,以及一些失败的预测案例,例如用导弹运送货物、核动力吸尘器、溶解餐具等。最后,他们还提到了科幻作家对未来的预测,例如儒勒·凡尔纳对登月地点的预测、H.G.威尔斯对坦克和原子弹的预测等。 Shelby指出,血友病治疗药物的出现和艾滋病危机之间存在关联,但这方面的历史故事鲜为人知。

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Futurology, the study of predicting future trends, emerged from post-World War II military needs. Pioneered by figures like Hap Arnold and Theodore von Karman, it involved forecasting technological advancements for strategic advantage. The Delphi technique, a method of achieving consensus among experts, was developed to refine these predictions.
  • Futurology emerged from post-WWII military needs.
  • Theodore von Karman accurately predicted drones and the atom bomb.
  • The Delphi technique uses expert consensus for forecasting.

Shownotes Transcript

Science fiction writers have made some amazingly accurate predictions over the years, but in 1945 the pace of technological change created a field that spun off of sci-fi forecasting, futurology. Learn all about it with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.

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