Predictions

Everyone seems to make predictions of some sort or another. It's done by sports analysts on a continuous basis. What's so intriguing about foreseeing what is going to happen?

One aspect has to be that predicting something usually comes with boasting about being correct if you were correct; often it is done on social media with "I told everyone that was going to happen! Insert evidence here." There really isn't anyone to mention how your predictions were completely wrong nor will you remember or acknowledge it yourself. It's natural to just forget about the negative. But in some specific cases, people will never forget. Just ask any meteorologist, the public will forever correlate their job with terrible forecasting. Politicians will always have opponents that will bring up a statement that was signed or a bill signed a half century that didn't quite meet the needs of the years ahead. Or you could just say the world is going to end and get as many followers as you can. People will definitely notice your prophecy to be wrong when people are still around. It's truly a lose-lose situation; just ask the people who believed in the rapture (twice) and 12/21/12.

But for the majority, there are no repercussions for throwing out predictions left and right and all around. The benefits of a correct prediction definitely outweigh the backlash of an inaccurate one. But don't ask Steve Ballmer about that.

Making well thought out predictions can also advance things or spark something else to happen. It can help build how the world functions. The influence of predictions can not be overlooked; just look at how they have affected all of us, Steve Jobs and Apple predicted that the mobile market would be huge, Henry Ford saw the importance of transportation for the public, and Elon Musk sees the significance of space travel (and much more).