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On 2015-09-26 20:51, Robin D Hanson wrote:<br>
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If we are hoping to be helpful to the future by studying the
future, it might help to have clear examples of people in the past
who did similarly. Not just people who forsaw the future with some
accuracy, but who helped to make the future better via their
efforts. Visionary inventors fit this description somewhat; by
painting a picture of what could be developed, they inspired
people to develop a better future. But setting such inventors
aside, who else do we have?<br>
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<br>
HG Wells is often mentioned. He was the founder of attempts at
scientific futurism, and actually did some not too bad forecasting
work. He may be more well known as a sf writer, but he got many
people to start on scientific forecasting as a real topic. <br>
<br>
I think the Haldane-Bernal-Stapledon chain of influence may be
another good example of vision and argued forecasting combined with
popularization. <br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Anders Sandberg
Future of Humanity Institute
Oxford Martin School
Oxford University</pre>
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