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The Skeptics' Guide to the Future

What Yesterday’s Science and Science Fiction Tell Us About the World of Tomorrow

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The Skeptics' Guide to the Future

By: Steven Novella
Narrated by: Steven Novella
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About this listen

From the bestselling authors and hosts of 'The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe' a high-tech roadmap of the future in their beloved voice, cracking open both the follies of futurists past and how technology will profoundly change our world moving forward.

Our predictions of the future are a wild fantasy, inextricably linked to our present hopes and fears, biases and ignorance. Whether they be the outlandish leaps predicted in the 1920s, like multi-purpose utility belts with climate control capabilities and planes the size of luxury cruise ships, or the forecasts of the '60s, which didn't anticipate the sexual revolution or women's liberation, the path to the present is littered with failed predictions and incorrect estimations.

The best we can do is try to absorb from futurism's checkered past, perhaps learning to do a little better.

In The Skeptics' Guide to the Future, Steven Novella and his co-authors build upon the work of futurists of the past by examining what they got right, what they got wrong, and how they came to those conclusions. By exploring the pitfalls of each era, they give their own speculations about the distant future, transformed by unbelievable technology ranging from genetic manipulation to artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Applying their trademark skepticism, they carefully extrapolate upon each scientific development, leaving no stone unturned as they lay out a vision for the future of tomorrow.

©2022 SGU Productions LLC (P)2022 Hachette Audio
Anthropology Future Studies Technology & Society Transportation Innovation Genetics
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Thorough

Really in-depth evaluation of what could and could not be based on present day info. Also Really enjoyed the extra content discussion at end of book,

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the future

I love the podcast, and the book wepl what can I say. Steve brings to life a vision of the future fresh from our lifetime of sci-fi, then reworks what is possible, leading to some surprising outcomes. brilliant narration, humourous and engaging, I loved the review at the end. these guys are so on their game

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Enjoyable Primer

I've loved SGU for a long while and enjoyed this book - it's a very solid primer on some interesting futurism topics and I think the key themes come across pretty well. Like all futurists, this vision on the future remains a reflection of it's authors, but that's OK.

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