Quotes About Prediction

Despite an appearance of infallibility, computer projections are not prescient. —TICIA CENVA, former leader of the Sorceresses of Rossak

There are no facts—only observational postulates in an endlessly regenerative hodgepodge of predictions. Consensus reality requires a fixed frame of reference. In a multi-level, infinite universe, there can be no fixity; thus, no absolute consensus reality. In a relativistic universe, it appears impossible to test the reliability of any expert by requiring him to agree with another expert. Both can be correct, each in his own inertial system. Bene Gesserit Azhar Book

The mark of the superior thinker is his or her ability to accurately predict the consequences of doing or not doing something.

Recuerda, solo el resultado pasado es el verdadero indicador del resultado futuro.

a blindfolded chimpanzee throwing darts at the stock listings can select a portfolio that performs as well as those managed by the experts.

The implications are simple. If past prices contain little or no useful information for predicting future prices, there is no point in following technical trading rules. A simple policy of buying and holding will be at least as good as any technical procedure. Moreover, buying and selling, to the extent that it is profitable, tends to generate taxable capital gains.

In spite of myself, I gave a snort. Just once, I'd like to hear a simple, straightforward prophecy.

The prediction I can make with the highest confidence is that the most amazing discoveries will be the ones we are not today wise enough to foresee.

The tragedy of the human species is it has evolved the capacity of foresight, but refuses to use it.

Predictions of surprising events always prove more accurate if not set down on paper beforehand.

As ages passed, people learned from their ancestors. The more accurately you knew the position and movements of the Sun and Moon and stars, the more reliably you could predict when to hunt, when to sow and reap, when to gather the tribes. As precision of measurement improved, records had to be kept, so astronomy encouraged observation and mathematics and the development of writing.

The future is a map drawn in the sand, and the tide can wash it away in a moment.

I cannot see the future, but I can sense its possibilities. I sense now that what I am telling you is the truth. But truth, like magic, can have different meanings. It is not an absolute. It does not always come about as we think it will.

If you make enough predictions, eventually you will get one right, but that is by accident, not design.

My mother always said that if you predicted rain long enough, sooner or later you would get wet and be proven right.

to understand the context of events as they relate to prophecy. Prophecy and free will, you see, exist in tension, in opposition. Yet, they interact.

Ordinary fortune-tellers tell you what you want to happen; witches tell you what's going to happen whether you want it to or not. Strangely enough, witches tend to be more accurate but less popular.

Nanny Ogg could see the future in the froth on a beer mug. It invariably showed that she was going to enjoy a refreshing drink which she almost certainly was not going to pay for.

His knowledge of country lore was a little hazy, but he felt fairly sure that if the cows lay down, it meant rain. If they were standing it would probably be fine. These cows were taking it in turns to execute slow and solemn somersaults; and Tyler wondered what it presaged for the weather.

You see, it's not enough to know what the future is. You have to know what it means.

No-one likes being told it's their lucky day. That sort of thing does not bode well. When someone tells you it's your lucky day, something bad is about to happen.

The Lawyers of Fate demand a loophole in every prophecy.

Miss Treason! Remember you have an appointment! It wasn't the best thing to say, but a lot better than: You said you were going to die in about five minutes' time!

It wasn't easy, living in the past. You couldn't whack someone for what they were going to do, or what the world was going to find out later. You couldn't warn people, either. You didn't know what could change the future, but if he understood things right, history tended to spring back into shape.