It’s strange to think that it is now 2015, the year depicted in the Back to the Future: Part II! (released 1 January 1989 – looking 26 years into the future)
How accurate were the predictions made? Read How 'Back to the Future: Part II' Scored on 2015 Predictions and Everything ‘Back to the Future Part II’ Got Right and Wrong About 2015, According to Futurists to see a summary of what the movie was “spot on” in envisioning and those things that we are still waiting for or where current technology has actually surpassed what was depicted.
Obviously this movie isn’t the only book or movie to forecast what the future might look like – after all, science fiction movies and books do that all the time.
George Orwell’s book 1984 was a much read book published in 1949 [so looking 35 years ahead] which predicted what our world over 30 years ago might have looked like. For a trip down nostalgia lane and how its predictions panned out, read Orwell's 1984: Was Orwell Right? and 7 sinister technologies from Orwell's 1984 that are still a threat.
As people, we are often looking forward. I suspect that our ancestors were doing the same. Additionally, attempting to predict the future is not just a modern phenomenon as indicated by this Wikipedia page. Our ancestors may have read or heard predictions for what the future of their world might have looked like. What did they think? How much of it became true?
Another perspective is to look at lists of best-selling books, influential books and to look at the newspapers and other regular print publications of the day (very available now through many online newspaper collections).
Thinking along these lines is just another way to get some perspective on what were the topics of the day for your ancestors.
Did an ancestor of yours “predict” the future? Were they right or wrong?
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