With the year 2000 approaching, scientific, environmental, technology, and health organizations have been making predictions about the state of science and technology in the next five years and beyond, as have some individuals. Many such agencies and associations are also using the approaching turn of the century to set goals for themselves.
Should the predictions come true and the goals be met by the start of the next century, forecasters anticipate, the world will be rid of polio, Internet cruisers will number 200 million, and more minorities will be attending medical school than ever before, among other prognostications.
IN THE HERE AND NOW: "The use of a forecast is really in the present," contents futurist Andy Hines of policy-research firm Coates and Jarratt.
When a prediction "becomes conventional wisdom, for better or worse," says Hines, trouble can arise. One much-hyped, but apparently erroneous, prediction that is still reverberating throughout the ...
