Skeptic Project

And I'll add them to the predictions page.

In 1981 the futurist F.M. Esfandiary predicted that in the year 2010, "Life expectancy will be indefinite. Disease and disability will nonexist. Death will be rare and accidental - but not permanent. We will continuously jettison our obsolescence and grow younger."

Source:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/10948503/Up-Wing-Priorities

The acid-tripping writer Robert Anton Wilson (1932-2007), a.k.a. RAW, made some bad calls about "the future." The title of this one, published back in 1978, says it all:

"Next Stop: Immortality"
http://www.futurehi.net/docs/RAW_Immortality.html</p>

RAW references some absurd forecasts about advances in human longevity circulating in the 1970's, from that era's equivalents of our Aubrey de Grey and Ray Kurzweil. For example, ". . . Dr. Paul Segall of UC-Berketey predicts that we will be able to raise human lifespan to '400 years or more' by the 1990s."

I don't recall anyone celebrating his 400th birthday in the 1990's.

And,

The basic Immortalist argument runs as follows. Be as conservative as you like in estimating the probable life-extension breakthroughs of the next two or three decades. Assume the relatively tame prediction made by Dr. Bjorksten back in 1973, when this research was (by com­parison with its present status) in its infan­cy. Say that Bjorksten was right then and we can only expect to see lifespan increas­ed to 140 years in the near future.

But this means that, if you are in your 40s, you will probably not be hauled off­stage by the Grim Reaper in 2008, as the insurance companies are betting. You will probably still be here in 2078. And if you are in your twenties or younger, you have a good chance of being around until 2098.

It turns out that the actuarial tables predicted RAW's remaining life expectancy pretty much on the money.

Wilson writes similar questionable things about "the future" in his 1980 essay, "Human Intelligence Increase," which you can find at these two URL's:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/11196842/Human-Intelligence-Increase</p>

http://www.rawilsonfans.com/articles/HII.htm</p>

RAW starts out by asserting, "We can expect more changes in human life during the next 40 years than occurred in the previous 4,000 years."

We've made to 3/4ths of the way into that 40 year timeline, and I have to ask: What the hell does Wilson's statement mean? In a lot of ways life in the U.S. hasn't changed that much since 1980. If anything we have a lot of the same problems. We certainly didn't see the longevity breakthrough by 1995 that he predicted would happen.

I think all the Webbot predictions would be a nice addition.

I feel sorry for anyone who looks to Robert Anton Wilson for predictions.

He's a fascinating guy and I love a lot of his writings, but some of them are pretty off the wall.

"RAW's poor record as a "futurist," like his buddy Timothy Leary's record of bad calls about "the future," also shows that the countercultural propaganda from a generation ago oversold the "mind expanding" effects of dropping acid and other hallucinogens."

Agreed. Although I am not sure I would put ole Bob in the same category as Leary. Bob was honest about the fact that he was having fun with everything and to take him seriously at your own peril. Bob never really advocated anything violent nor do I think he tried to get people to worship him. Behind every serious thing he wrong, it was either followed or included some disclaimer about how he could quite possibly be completely wrong. That's what I like about Wilson.

Leary actually convinced people to drop out and move across the country, formed a cult around himself (if anything, Bob was anti-cult), break him out of prison, alignment with violent extremist groups, calling for direct action in the form of violence, etc. Leary, like most cult leaders, sociopaths and narcissists, was never wrong.

Maybe its just personal bias, because I do love Bob Wilson and dislike Leary. Wilson tried to be High Clown. Leary tried to be High Priest.

But other than I totally agree.

"I wonder if Jacque Fresco tried to live that way in the 1960's, but he lacked the right sort of personality."

I think that is a pretty accurate observation.

Fresco's charisma is pretty much zilch. He isn't funny, witty or entertaining and he is hard to understand. Every interview I have seen with him he comes across as a dogmatic little goblin who probably doesn't handle criticism well. I really don't know what people see in him, aside from his goofy science fiction.

@Ed,

He told you what you wanted to hear. His ability to convince anyone but the choir is non existent.

@Ed,

I wasn't talking about what he speaks about, I was talking about the way he speaks about it.

His charisma blows. If you had not been interested in what he was talking about I doubt you would have paid much attention to him, that's my point.

Perhaps this is Fresco's reality:

http://www.paleofuture.com/

Jonas James: Swine flu will be forgotten about in October 2010.
http://conspiracyscience.com/blog/2009/10/13/swine-flu-update-oct-2009/#comments

Oh, we forgot about the Truther Girls' prediction that there would be a false flag during the Vancouver Olympics that would result in a declaration of martial law in Canada. I don't have the link, but Edward did a blog about it.

Does this count as a prediction? Will Bush cancel the 2008 election?
Bush takes steps to cancel US election (from 2004)
And also in video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqV22jU6_Vo
Though there's no general consesus, just a buzz in the air among several groups.

EU will merge with NATO before end of 2009: (2003 article) http://www.prisonplanet.com/top_military_official_predicts_eu_merge_with_nato.htm

Perusing the old PP.com site (http://www.prisonplanet.com/archives.html) is generally hilarious and painful. Most articles are just saved from other random conspiracy or neocon sites.

The canceling of the election was really popular in both 2004 and 2008 with "Bush is a dictator!" types, and the same now is happening with "Obama is a dictator!" types.

Thanks for the links, but maybe you can submit them all on the predictions page? =P or maybe we can discuss them all here first, basically we need to mark every prediction the CT community makes, since they take themselves so seriously every time they do it.