forecasting

We are all forecasters. When we think about changing jobs, getting married, buying a home, making an investment, launching a product, or retiring, we decide based on how we expect the future will unfold. These expectations are forecasts.

Philip E. Tetlock and Dan Gardner, Superforecasting: The art and science of prediction, New York, 2015, p. 1

In Rome in 357 A.D., Emperor Constantino issued an edict forbidding anyone “to consult a soothsayer, a mathematician, or a forecaster… May curiosity to foretell the future be silenced forever.” In recent years, however, forecasting has become more acceptable.

J. Scott Armstrong, Principles of forecasting: a handbook for researchers and practitioners, Dordrecht, 2001, p. 2

After-the-fact interpretation is appropriate for some historical and literary scholars, which helps explain Freud’s lingering influence on literary criticism. But in science as in horse racing, bets must be placed before the race is run.

David G. Myers, Intuition: its powers and perils, New Haven, 2002, p. 23