Predicting the Present

Back to the Future

Thomas Jefferson believed that “history, by apprizing [people] of the past, will enable them to judge of the future; it will avail them of the experience of other times and other nations.” For all those who base predictive power on knowledge of the past, Jefferson’s proposition is conventional wisdom. But it need not be taken at face value, nor as the deepest statement on the making of predictions. By... (More)