Futurehype: The Tyranny of Prophecy (Plume) [Mass Market Paperback]

Max Dublin (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Most of the predictions made by futurists, self-proclaimed pundits and trend-spotters turn out to be false, charges Dublin. In a masterful and enjoyable debunking of the pretensions of crystal gazers in all fields, this University of Toronto sociologist administers a sound drubbing to Buckminster Fuller, Henry Kissinger, Arthur Clarke, John Naisbitt, Herman Kahn, New Age sage Stewart Brand and others whose prophecies have, in Dublin's reckoning, proved misleading or false. His targets include artificial-intelligence gurus who hype a "computer revolution" in the classroom, the Reagan administration's "simplistic, debilitating" supply-side economics and nuclear strategists who put forth dire prophecies to justify military buildup. He lambastes forecasters in the oil industry, health-care technocrats, nuclear-fusion advocates and apostles of a "post-industrial society" supposedly run on a flow of information and services. With a wealth of examples, Dublin drives home his message that false predictions act like false promises, lulling us into a sense of inevitability and causing us to act in self-defeating ways.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Humans have always had a curiosity for the future with every generation producing its own prophets, wizards, and seers. Today, we have a blossoming "futurism industry" proclaiming the next megatrend and issuing incessant pronouncements about the future of technology, economics, education, and the political order. The thesis of this remarkable book by Toronto sociologist Dublin is that there are discernible dangers in our fascination to know and in our need to react to these increasingly influential "futurehype" forecasts. Arguing that many so-called futurists are nothing more than modern snake-oil salesmen, Dublin points out how difficult it is to accurately forecast the future, how such (often incorrect) predictions affect the policy decisions being made today and why they cause us to ignore current problems that need our attention. While this volume holds a valuable message for any intelligent reader, this book is especially poignant for planners and forecasters. Recommended for larger public library collections.
- Gene R. Laczniak, Marquette Univ., Milwaukee
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Plume (October 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452268001
• ISBN-13: 978-0452268005
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,614,077 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hands Down the Best Book on Futurism Ever, September 30, 2000

By 

A.D.D. (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Futurehype: The Tyranny of Prophecy (Plume) (Mass Market Paperback)

There wouldn't be much of a problem with Futurism if it was innocuous enough of a field (that is, one without much power) to allow it to go largely uninvestigated. There have been hundreds of books that indulge in Futurology but it is nigh impossible to unearth a book that looks at the topic and it's methodologies with a critical eye or, for that matter, any level of skepticism. But Mr. Dublin succeeds very admirably at the job, intelligently analysing the spectrum of problems that are part and parcel of Futurology as its used in our society, infused into journalism and advertising and culture.

So, it is precisely because people put too much stock in prophecy that this book is of transcendent importance (science being only one of the areas the author looks into. It is far from being a condemnation of our dreamers; its a book that shines the spotlight on an area that has had a very shadowy existence with almost no critics. Find a copy of this book and educate yourself about a tool that has been used extensively (recently in the high tech field, such as Wired, etc) to influence our mental environment and augment industry PR.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worthy, yeah, but unsatisfying, May 15, 2000

By 

"thisnicknameisnottaken" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Futurehype: The Tyranny of Prophecy (Plume) (Mass Market Paperback)

OK, it's true: people do put too much stock in prophecy, especially when it's made by the scientific community. But Max Dublin's relentless attack on just about every aspect of "futurology" is a little too depressing for my tastes. So Buckminster Fuller's inventions won't change the world - isn't there room for dreamers in our society?

The solution, perhaps, lies somewere between what Dublin says andhow things are: we need people prepared to guess at what the future might be like and how it could be better than today, but we also need to recognise that everything these people say is just an educated guess, at best, and not a foregone conclusion.

At any rate, the writing is tight and the argument is certainly worth a look, but you might find the leaden tone a little offputting.