You’re still here
If you’re reading this, you’re still here. You shouldn’t be. At least not according to a scientific study from 1960.
Physicist Heinz von Foerster and two colleagues published “Doomsday: Friday, 13 November, A.D. 2026” in the journal Science. They fitted historical population data to a curve and concluded that today, the world’s population would hit infinity.
Well, it didn’t happen, even though the math was “right”.
When you think about it, we’re often doing the same thing to ourselves. Believing we can predict the future, and more often than not, it’s not looking good.
We look at our past and where we are at the moment, and then come to the conclusion that “it will never work”. I’m never gonna be able to become a house inspector, do a headstand, learn to speak Thai...
It looks impossible from where we stand, and looking back just makes it look even less likely. We’re doing the “math” and it tells us that there’s no chance whatsoever to reach our goal.
But that’s just an idea, no matter how much data we’re sitting on and comparing it against. Is the weather forecaster, with hundreds of years of facts, right every time?
You wake up, “knowing” it’s going to rain. You look out the window, and the sky is perfectly clear. Not a cloud in sight. A perfect moment to remind yourself:
You can never really tell.