Are the events in 'Patriots' meant as predictions?

Q: Are the events in Patriots meant as predictions?

A: I would not call anything in this book a prediction, but I would say many of the descriptions are projections of the path we are on as of 2011. For example, the development of a material such as Carmot seems likely. So do powerful drugs such as Nirvana, widespread shortages of key materials (especially certain metals), longer lifespans, population growth, self-aware manufactured intelligence, constraints of freedom, and gains for the few and powerful at the expense of the many.

Other things, such as abundant, cheap electrical power, I would classify as a hope based on certain breakthroughs. The development of cheap electrical power is roughly equivalent (in my mind) to the development of cheap, abundant computational power which has led to a wealth of inexpensive ‘smart’ devices far more powerful than the Univac-like machines that guided the moon landing. In other words, such things certainly can (and have) happened before.


from F.A.Q.