In SciFi, two patterns are apparent: 1) authors only extrapolate from trends already present, and cannot foresee truly novel developments
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2) authors always overestimate the speed of progress, and the magnitude of technological & social change over time
Asimov saw intelligent humanoids in the 2000s, Blade Runner is set in our time, 2001 is set in… 2001. There are countless examples
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This also extends to hard SciFi set in the near future. The Mars trilogy, written in the 90s, predicted Mars colonization 9 years from now
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This contradicts the Singularist postulate that we underestimate the speed of progress because it’s exponential -- we always overestimate it
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If you look at lots of the doomsday fantasy/sci fi, it was extrapolating the cold war. Currently the bias toward machines taking over humans
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However "Data was found by Starfleet in 2338 (!) as a sole survivor on Omicron Theta". Live long and prosper.
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