vol. 38, Issue #1

Online Journal Article: The History Of The Future— Or What Should We Do Now? L. Russ Bush* JETS 38/1 (March 1995) 3-10

https://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/38/38-1/JETS_38-1_003-010_Bush.pdf

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Complete article may be found here:
https://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/38/38-1/JETS_38-1_003-010_Bush.pdf

THE HISTORY OF THE FUTURE— OR WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW? -
L. RUSS BUSH*
JETS 38/1 (March 1995) 3-10

Excerpt:
All we can do is look at current signs and statistical indicators. Signs and
indicators, however, are not based on the actual future but on the present,
and on the information we have at present, which is in fact only an i
interpretation of the present and the recent past.
The difficulty of predicting the future based on current statistical trends
can be seen from a simple example: Statistical trends say that, at their
present rate of decline, Methodists and Presbyterians will be extinct by the
middle of the next century. But surely this will not actually be the case.1
Trends are only current indicators. They speak of the past and the present
but not necessarily of the future. --from page 3