It turns out that Nostradamus wasn’t the only one with a vision of the future. Science fiction writers have been imagining and predicting the future for years. For an avid reader, the mystery of a science fiction writer’s mind is mind-boggling. It raises a very relevant question, do science fiction writers have an instinct we don’t or are they observant enough that they have the foresight to predict the future from the current trends of the society they lived in. Here are 5 books that were eerily correct about the future:
The World Set Free, H.G.Wells
The World Set Free described the usage of Atomic Bombs and how warfare in the future would be increasingly difficult. Atomic Bombs were discovered a 100 years after the book was written and luckily for all parties involved, the world hasn’t developed an atom bomb which when set off, could cause a literal “blazing continual explosion.”
1984, George Orwell
1984 is about a dystopian, post-war London controlled by the Big Brother. The citizens living under the care of Big Brother were always watched upon by the Big Brother through their TVs, Radios and history was re-written every day, with a consistent effort to limit one’s vocabulary. Orwell predicted surveillance as a tool of control back then, he may also have predicted the future of a certain very controversial country in Asia.
Neuromancer, William Gibson
Internet was a novel concept when William Gibson penned his novel down, Neuromancer. It is truly astounding that he predicted the advent of Hackers, virtual reality, even Google Glass. For anyone who wishes to have their minds blown, this is one book to consider.
Looking Backward, Edward Bellamy
Looking Backward was published in 1887 and talked about a utopian American society where people were given cards with a certain amount of credit, which they use to make purchases. Every citizen initially is given the same credit, but the ones who have more unpleasant or dangerous jobs get higher credits. We have not started living in a Utopian world yet, but we do have cards (debit), which are linked to the fixed sum in our accounts and we use them to make purchases.
Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
If any book takes the cake at being eerily accurate about the future, it has to be Stand on Zanzibar. This is perhaps the most prophetic novels of all time. Set in 2010, this story is about an America under the leadership of President Obomi, major inventions of the era are laser printers, electric cars and direct TV. The country was prophesied to be plagued with school shootings and terrorist attacks, however, the silver lining was that homosexuality was widely accepted.
