[Misc] Prophetic books

[Happy Exile]

Have you ever read a book that seemed a little bit prophetic? What are the books of now that tell a convincing vision of the future?

I've just read about this https://openai.com/sora - AI generated video. And it reminded me of a novel I read in the late 80s that I just spent an hour finding out what it was so I can read it again: Nature's End by Whitley Streiber. Turns out he went on to write the novel that became the film The Day After Tomorrow and has a large amount of work based on his alleged alien abduction.

Nature's End though - it has deep fake videos, fake news, generative AI, mobile phones, environmental collapse, out of control forest fires etc etc...and it was written in 1986 (and set in 2025).

Any books now predicting elements of the near-future in what appears a believably accurate way?

 

[Stat Brother]

I did once watch an animal eat through 1 apple, 2 pears, 3 plums, 4 strawberries and 5 oranges, i think it was a caterpillar.

 

[smartferndale]

Have you ever read a book that seemed a little bit prophetic? What are the books of now that tell a convincing vision of the future?

I've just read about this https://openai.com/sora - AI generated video. And it reminded me of a novel I read in the late 80s that I just spent an hour finding out what it was so I can read it again: Nature's End by Whitley Streiber. Turns out he went on to write the novel that became the film The Day After Tomorrow and has a large amount of work based on his alleged alien abduction.

Nature's End though - it has deep fake videos, fake news, generative AI, mobile phones, environmental collapse, out of control forest fires etc etc...and it was written in 1986 (and set in 2025).

Any books now predicting elements of the near-future in what appears a believably accurate way?

Try the Bible . Revelation would be the best option.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

A friend asked me why the book I’m reading is so thick. “Well, it’s a long story” I replied.

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

H.G.Wells’ books were, sometimes, quite prophetic, “The Sleeper Awakes” being one. I, also, remember that he foresaw Motorways, the difference being that the lanes actually moved at different speeds, so you speeded up by stepping from lane to lane.

 

[highflyer]

H.G.Wells’ books were, sometimes, quite prophetic, “The Sleeper Awakes” being one. I, also, remember that he foresaw Motorways, the difference being that the lanes actually moved at different speeds, so you speeded up by stepping from lane to lane.

The War in the Air. Written in 1907 Predicts the coming of World War(s). Written just 4 years after the Wright brothers first flight it explains how air power will become a dominant force in warfare. And, against the prevailing sentiment of the time, argues that Europeans are no more civilised, and no less prone to acts of brutality, than any other group of people in the world.

 

[Hamilton]

Tim Marshall’s books on geography and politics are fascinating in the light of how Russia is behaving today.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

The Road - Cormac McCarthy. Keep flying those planes, driving those 4×4s and decimating the Amazon rainforest etc.

 

[Ooh it’s a corner]

1984 written in 1948

 

[beorhthelm]

the world of Snow Crash is pretty nearly here. the social interaction arguably already is, people live through their social media accounts.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

We are all going to die

 

[Machiavelli]

Marx wrote some pretty prophetic things about the development of capitalism and globalisation in The Communist Manifesto
More recently, Piketty has so far proved to be on the 'money' with his claim that the UK and other 'developed' countries with ageing demographic trajectories are in low-growth regimes -- in Capital and the Twenty-First Century. Unfortunately the 'Blueprint for a Participatory Socialism' in Capital and Ideology is yet to become prophetic, but we live in hope*

* An artist I'm fond of once sang: "You can hope in one hand, and shit in the other, and see which one fills up first."

 

[Stat Brother]

Marx wrote some pretty prophetic things about the development of capitalism and globalisation in The Communist Manifesto
More recently, Piketty has so far proved to be on the 'money' with his claim that the UK and other 'developed' countries with ageing demographic trajectories are in low-growth regimes -- in Capital and the Twenty-First Century. Unfortunately the 'Blueprint for a Participatory Socialism' in Capital and Ideology is yet to become prophetic, but we live in hope*

* An artist I'm fond of once sang: "You can hope in one hand, and shit in the other, and see which one fills up first."

But I didn't come here for a lecture in communism.

 

[Machiavelli]

But I didn't come here for a lecture in communism.

You might have used that one before

 

[Cheshire Cat]

But I didn't come here for a lecture in communism.

Well in that case it's high time you had one.

Communism - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Gabbafella]

The most prosthetic book I've ever read.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

Futility: or, the Wreck of the Titan

• In 1898, approximately fourteen years before the sinking of the Titanic, American author Morgan Robertson penned a novella entitled “Futility: or, the Wreck of the Titan”. This eerily prescient book tells the story of an ocean liner embarking on its maiden voyage in April. The ship, named the Titan, bears striking similarities to the real-life Titanic:
  
  * Both vessels were marvels of engineering, designed to set new standards for luxury travel.
  * Each had a capacity of around 3000 people, making them the world’s largest passenger ships at the time.
  * State-of-the-art safety features were meant to protect them from sinking.
  * The ships were remarkably similar in size: Robertson’s Titan was 800 feet long, while the Titanic measured 882.5 feet.
  * Both ships set sail in April, and disaster struck each ship around midnight.
  * The Titan was traveling at 25 knots at the time of its collision, while the Titanic struck an iceberg at 22.5 knots.
  * Thankfully, the similarities stop short of the death toll: Robertson’s Titan was filled to capacity, while the Titanic carried well over 2000 passengers and crew. Rescuers managed to save 705 people from the Titanic, but only 13 people survived the sinking of the Titan

 

[bhafc99]

 

[schmunk]

. I, also, remember that he foresaw Motorways, the difference being that the lanes actually moved at different speeds, so you speeded up by stepping from lane to lane.

That was Robert Heinlein:

The Roads Must Roll - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

That was Robert Heinlein:

The Roads Must Roll - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

From Wikipedia

The concept of a megalopolis based on high-speed walkways is common in science fiction. The first works set in such a location are "A Story of the Days To Come" (1897) and When The Sleeper Wakes(1899) (also republished as The Sleeper Awakes), written by H. G. Wells, which take place in a future London. Thirty years later, the silent film Metropolis(1927) depicted several scenes showing moving sidewalks and escalators between skyscrapers at high levels. Later, the short story "The Roads Must Roll" (1940), written by Robert A. Heinlein, depicts the risk of a transportation strike in a society based on similar-speed sidewalks.