The future is unknowable by definition, so prediction is only practical action.

Evidence

Whenever the future failed, as it often did during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, appeal was made to yet another new future patching up the miscarriage of previous predictions. Most important, preachers and politicians appealed to Americans to retain faith in the future as such; they appealed to the future as a solvent and asked the public to believe that the latest technology or social project would fully justify past sacrifices and the endurance of present turmoil. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 682 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

Unlike the mere revisionist or clairvoyant, the futurist has the advantage that the future can always be rewritten, for there is no record to compare it with, no systematic verification of prophecy. The futurist can keep extending the day of consummation or rely on the forgetfulness of the public when the appointed but unfulfilled day arrives. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 748 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Prediction of historical events is a practical act, not a scientific act of knowledge.; Failed predictions merely trigger appeals to yet another new future. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 682; Pure inductive knowledge cannot justify claims about the future. (+4 more)

Related

• Prediction of historical events is a practical act, not a scientific act of knowledge. (similarity 0.94)
• Futurist prophecy can never be falsified by events (similarity 0.89)
• Failed predictions merely trigger appeals to yet another new future. (similarity 0.87)
• Past predictions have foreclosed genuinely open futures (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Pure inductive knowledge cannot justify claims about the future. #corroborates (0.90)
• Failed predictions merely trigger appeals to yet another new future. #contradicts (0.85) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 682
• Futurist prophecy can never be falsified by events #corroborates (0.85) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 748
• Predictive capacity lies in the will, not in the worldview itself #responds-to (0.80)
• Choice of action should hinge on what will actually happen, not ideal possibilities #contradicts (0.75) — Brian Christian, The Alignment Problem, 1018