short non-fiction · tech & the future
Keep a forecast with its date
A small prediction log separates what was knowable then from what feels obvious now.
Choose one measurable question due within three months: a policy decision, product milestone or monthly indicator. Write the exact outcome, deadline, probability and evidence that would change your mind. On the due date, score the event and add one sentence about the miss or hit. Keep the original wording visible.
A handful of entries will not prove that you are calibrated, and outcomes are not always independent or cleanly resolved. The exercise is observational, not an investing system. Its value is protection against hindsight: confidence about a possible future remains attached to a timestamp. Over time, repeated questions can reveal whether “likely” means anything stable in your own language—and whether updates happen when evidence arrives.
Based on the work of
Philip E. Tetlock and Dan Gardner
· 2015
Why this bookExplains probabilistic forecasting practices while showing how disciplined updating differs from certainty.
What to keep in view
Small personal samples do not establish statistical calibration; avoid high-stakes decisions without domain evidence.