Yes there is a point in predicting future trends
Predicting future trends is not pointless especially when the lives and livelihoods of millions of people are ultimately at stake. This applies to anything from the economy of the world, to business trends for companies and even the potential of a natural disaster to occur. For instance, meteorologists save hundreds of thousands of lives when they are able to predict the movements of storms and to evacuate the people in time. Also, it is important to have technologies to predict the next natural disaster so that millions of lives would not be lost in the process. Successful politicians would be able to predict the demographic trends of the world and to prepare their country accordingly. The survival of a country’s economy is also dependent on economists and government’s ability to predict the next economic recession and to help the country weather the storm.
The prediction of future trends is necessary of any decision-making and to allow oneself to stay relevant in this competitive world. Even if these future trends could be predicted wrongly or inaccurately, they are still an important basis for forward thinking for any individual or organization. One should not mistaken the difficulty of predicting trends with the futility of trend predictions. After all, it is always better to be prepared than to be caught off-guard and made irrelevant. For instance, it is critical for politicians and economists to predict the direction of the economy so that they can prepare citizens and formulate policies in accordance. Accurate prediction is also important for risk-management in our lives.
Improvements in technologies have given us even greater reason to predict future trends. For instance, investment analysts are able to make use of softwares to predict the movements of stock prices using technical analysis or even the prediction of a whole economy using qualitative analysis. There is also impressive progress made in the field of Big Data that would improve the scope of information collected, helping us to make more precise prediction. As such, it makes investing as simple as pure science and maths, allowing more individuals to profit from the wealth of the stock market.
No there is no point in trying to predict future trends
Predicting trends does not help in preparing for the future at all, given how inaccurate these predictions often are. It is often a waste of money and resources to pay these analysts to predict the next hot stock or the next hot sector. Often, these datas are manipulated by investment banks to serve their own self-interests, and this works against the larger public. Black swan events tend to occur and there is no need to beat ourselves up over our inability to predict them. In fact, these events could serve as a learning point about our adaptability to world events. The ever changing context of the world is also a reason why predicting trends may not work.
Predicting trends usually come from an angle of fear of the future. It is also an attempt to control the unknown. Instead of approaching the future with a sense of fear, it is perhaps better to engage in mutual cooperation and preparation. It is more eventful to prepare the people against any potential threats such as terrorism.
