At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements ;)
What if someone created a digital psychic? (By "digital psychic", I mean a computer program or robotic device that can accurately predict the future.)
That person would be very rich I think! I would imagine they would sell their predictions to the highest bidders.
ReplyDeletebetty
That would be one way to profit from it.
DeleteI think it would be a scary proposition. Fate is never set though so we'd still try to change the future outcomes.
ReplyDeleteWestern governments would do everything to stop it going public and revealing their crimes :)
ReplyDeleteI'd ask this digital psychic, "When and how will you be used for evil?" (That's both the pessimist and optimist in me talking.)
ReplyDeleteThat's a great question.
DeleteI think a lot of people would want to destroy it.
ReplyDeleteProbably.
DeleteIt reminds me of that movie with Tom Cruise which the title escapes me at the moment. I could see many people wanting it so they could get the winning lottery #'s. It would be too powerful a tool that us mere humans could not use correctly
ReplyDeleteHmmm, too many people would try to change the present in negative ways to affect the future.
ReplyDeleteWould they?
DeleteI'm not interested in knowing the future! Knowing today is stressful enough! I'm glad nothing like that is possible
ReplyDeleteBut what if something wonderful was coming?
DeleteThen it would be a happy surprise!!
DeleteWow, this is a thinker. This is the kind of thing that could inspire an interesting book. I'm definitely going to have to let it run around in my head for a while...
ReplyDeleteLiz, I think we all sorta wanna know what the future holds for us. No man can predict the future, even though some believe there are people who can see what's ahead. Let's say for the moment such a device is created, then if we knew where our path would lead, then this would change the way we lived, right? This could be a good thing or bad depending the information you were given. For most people, if they got bad news then they'd fall into a deep depression and what time they have left would be robbed. So, I'm content not knowing what tomorrow holds and to live for the day like it was my last. Totally interesting question!
ReplyDeleteI think whoever created it would know people would want to steal so they would be very careful about revealing it. Maybe they wouldn't reveal it all. Or, maybe they would try to prevent some of the things the DP predicted, which could prove interesting...
ReplyDeleteI'd be just as disinterested as I am in the people ones.
ReplyDeleteOK...
DeleteThe people who would use this to make fortunes in the stock market, or to start wars. I hope such a digital psychic is never developed. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteThat's a possibility.
DeleteIt would never be able to predict with 100% accuracy because it would be using statistics and probability. Some things can't be foreseen. Great question though.
ReplyDeleteWould it? Or might there be some way to predict the future through other means?
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