Hee hee. All in support of my cynical hypothesis: the predicted future is always at least ten years away because that's slightly longer than the longest researc

Hee hee. All in support of my cynical hypothesis: the predicted future is always at least ten years away because that's slightly longer than the longest research grants. [1] See, if you predict a breakthrough in five years and are then awarded a seven-year grant, you're setting yourself up for a lot of embarrassment when it comes time to apply for a renewal. The future is in the future, and until you're absolutely certain of success it's important to keep it there. ;) --- [1] that's the predicted future. The actual future isn't in the future at all. It arrives every day, without warning, as a fait accompli. There's no money in predicting the near future: you must either predict the far future, or make the near future.