Is It Possible to Predict the Future?

The current state of affairs provides hints about what is ahead. Predicting, for instance, that the large-scale Syrian refugee movement will result in long-term changes to our nation is not prophesy.

Seeing the percentage of Syrians in Hatay's population and their impact on daily life in Fatih, Istanbul, makes it easy to predict the kind of future these trends are bringing us.

According to Peter Drucker, accurate forecasts of the future are made possible by notable shifts in a nation's demographic makeup.

Similar to demographic shifts, technological advancements provide crucial hints about the future. However, a lot of the time, it is impossible to anticipate the nature of the society of the future only by understanding the impact of these breakthroughs.

The mere fact that a technological invention opens up previously unattainable possibilities does not guarantee that society will embrace it.

For instance, when the internet first started to gain traction, most futurists projected that people would work from home instead of travelling to their places of employment, that they would hold video conferences in place of lengthy trips, and that these changes would have a significant impact on the travel and airline industries.

But things did not happen as quickly as anticipated. People still prefer to meet face to face and work in the same environment.

The extent to which the 2020 worldwide virus pandemic would disseminate practices like video conferencing and remote work is still unknown.

Significant behavioural changes in society are also brought about by wars and diseases. For instance, the generations who used their ration cards to purchase food during the First and Second World Wars were incredibly frugal throughout their entire lives.

Even in the years of abundance following the war, their consumption was severely restricted because to the devastation caused by the famine.

In the years to come, the 2020 coronavirus pandemic will also alter people's perceptions of personal hygiene and intimate physical contact. Following this first worldwide pandemic, people will be more mindful of their personal cleanliness.

It is feasible to forecast how this epidemic would affect certain people's behaviours, but not how it will affect society as a whole. What kind of planet we will live in after the coronavirus outbreak is yet unknown.

Every individual, family, business, and society in the globe today is working extremely hard to adjust to changing circumstances in an attempt to survive and lead a better life. People will give up some of their habits and pick up new ones at the end of this process.

Businesses will adapt their operations and quicken the pace of innovation in goods and services. Individuals will begin utilising new goods and services and discontinue utilising some old ones.

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