disregardable@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
Yes, it’s called demography. The point of calculating predictions is so we can react to them now. For example, in the 1960s, we predicted population growth would outpace our ability to produce enough food, and massive amounts of people would starve to death. In response, societies invested millions of dollars into agricultural development to be able to grow food more efficiently. By responding to the issue, we avoided having it. The claim wasn’t “wrong”, it did what it was supposed to do.
FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
I like to use Y2K as an example of this phenomona. It’s a common misconception that people were panicked over something that was never going to happen. In reality, programmers put loads of time and effort into fixing the problem.
Sadly, when a crisis is averted, people think it was never going to happen. Now, if the Untied States manages not to continue its descent into fascism, people will say that those who predicted it were just fearmongering. In reality, people seeing the fascism rising led to people working against it.