University of Houston, Teaching about the Future
Forecasting
P Bishop, 2/16/10
Purpose
The desire to know the future is as ancient as humans themselves. It is our unique ability to conceive of states that are not present to us at the moment that got people thinking about the future (and about the past). And just as history was based on myth and legend before the first historians (Herodotus and Thucydides) decided to write down exactly what happened, so trying to know the future (forecasting) was based on set of beliefs and superstitions that were of little use, except perhaps to make people feel better. Some wonder whether we are much better today with our fast computers and Internet resources!