Looking to the future

These are days of difficult predictions. Prognosticators and pundits read the markets with a cautious eye, reluctant to indicate any specific direction the world economy may take. Contemplations on the future are mainly of interest because of their reflection of contemporary concerns, rather than their insight into the future. Orwell's 1984 is as compelling a portrait of angst over fascism in the 1940s as it is a window into an imagined and sinister future world. 2001: A Space Odyssey elicits the contrasting views of optimism and pessimism during the late 1960s as well as a science fic...