The Skeptics' Guide to the Future

What Yesterday's Science and Science Fiction Tell Us About the World of Tomorrow

By: Steven Novella, Bob Novella, Jay Novella

Narrated by: Steven Novella

From the bestselling authors and hosts of "The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe," a high-tech roadmap of the future in their beloved voice, cracking open the follies of futurists past and how technology will profoundly change our world, redefining what it means to be human.

Our predictions of the future are a wild fantasy, inextricably linked to our present hopes and fears, biases and ignorance. Whether they be the outlandish leaps predicted in the 1920s, like multi-purpose utility belts with climate control capabilities and planes the size of luxury cruise ships, or the forecasts of the ‘60s, which didn’t anticipate the sexual revolution or women’s liberation, the path to the present is littered with failed predictions and incorrect estimations. The best we can do is try to absorb the lessons from futurism's checkered past, perhaps learning to do a little better.

In THE SKEPTICS' GUIDE TO THE FUTURE, Steven Novella and his co-authors build upon the work of futurists of the past by examining what they got right, what they got wrong, and how they came to those conclusions. By exploring the pitfalls of each era, they give their own speculations about the distant future, transformed by unbelievable technology ranging from genetic manipulation to artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Applying their trademark skepticism, they carefully extrapolate upon each scientific development, leaving no stone unturned as they lay out a vision for the future.

Critic reviews

"A gimlet-eyed look at the promises of technology and futurists past. . . An intriguing if bet-hedging work of futurology that calls into question the whole business of futurology itself.”—Kirkus Reviews

PRAISE FOR THE SKEPTICS' GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE

"In this age of real and fake information, your ability to reason, to think in scientifically skeptical fashion, is the most important skill you can have. Read The Skeptics' Guide Universe; get better at reasoning. And if this claim about the importance of reason is wrong, The Skeptics' Guide will help you figure that out, too."—Bill Nye

"A lively, engaging, and very timely guide to navigating a world rife with misinformation and pseudoscience. This book will give you the tools to ferret out nonsense and confront your own biases-and hopefully change a few minds along the way."—Jennifer Oullette, author of Me, Myself, and Why and The Calculus Diaries

"[Novella] pulls no punches in his attack on the misinformation, myths, and biases that surround us. Aided here by several writing associates, the author demonstrates his vast experience explaining the mechanisms of deception and the tactics used by pseudoscientists. Presented as "one giant inoculation against bad science, deception, and faulty thinking," the book succeeds superbly."—Kirkus (starred review)

"Empowering and illuminating, this thinker's paradise is an antidote to spreading anti-scientific sentiments. Readers will return to its ideas again and again."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Critical Thinking applied to futurism? Fantastic!

A fun and refreshing approach to possible futures with a critical eye and intellectual humility. A great example in applied critical thinking.

Great book and narration

I really enjoyed the Skeptic books and Dr Novella's other works. The Novellas are excellent writers and Dr Steven Novella is an engaging narrator. Impatiently waiting on more work to come out.

Full of facts

This is a good science book. But it did not translate well to the Audible.
It was full of facts, but quite simply not entertaining.
The interview at the end of the book is the type of format that could really enhance this book in the future.
Meanwhile, the book did bring back days of when I was in university in a 300 person room, listening to the professor discuss physics.

Worth a second listen.

As realistic a look at the future as you're likely to find. A lot of sci-fi stuff simply isn't going to happen. but the stuff that will is beyond our imagination.

Excellent

This book is not, happily, just wild speculation about the future. It's more about the constraints on future tech, given what we know about physics etc, and what has gone wrong in the history of attempts to predict the future. It also has some wild speculation, which wasn't always my favourite part, but it is lightly sprinkled in.

I enjoyed the chapters on self-driving cars and AI less because no one knows the future constraints on them very well right now. These two felt more hand-wavy, but the chapters on space and energy sources are just wonderful.

The authors illustrate some possible futures with sci-fi vignettes. These work because they are short and well written.

Overall, it's just a very fun read. Definitely worth it.