--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: most importantly, this prediction is less…" description: "\"“most importantly, this prediction is less of a prophecy and more a way of discussing our present choices. If the discussion makes us choose differentl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/yuval-noah-harari-100_predictions_most-importantly-this-prediction-is-less_1389467.jpg" --- # most importantly, this prediction is less of a prophecy… ![“most importantly, this prediction is less of a prophecy and more a way of discussing our present choices. If the discussion makes us choose differently, so that the prediction is proven wrong, all the better. What’s the point of making predictions if they cannot change anything?” quote by Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/yuval-noah-harari-100_predictions_most-importantly-this-prediction-is-less_1389467.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/yuval-noah-harari-100_predictions_most-importantly-this-prediction-is-less_1389467.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/yuval-noah-harari-100_predictions_most-importantly-this-prediction-is-less_1389467.jpg) > ““most importantly, this prediction is less of a prophecy and more a way of discussing our present choices. If the discussion makes us choose differently, so that the prediction is proven wrong, all the better. What’s the point of making predictions if they cannot change anything?”” [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Predictions should guide present choices, not just forecast futures; they’re useful if they alter behavior. **In simple terms:** Predictions are tools to change actions now. Key Takeaway Use forecasts to influence decisions. Themes future choice agency Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - policy planning - personal goal setting - business strategy Key Concepts determinism counterfactuals Questions to Reflect On - How can we ensure predictions motivate change? - What mechanisms make forecasts actionable? A Different Perspective Predictions can be ignored or misinterpreted, limiting impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Predictions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/predictions/) [Prophecy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prophecy/) ## Related quotes > [“What’s the point of making predictions if they cannot change anything? Some complex systems, such as the weather, are oblivious to our predictions. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/what-s-the-point-of-making-predictions-if-they-cannot-change-anything/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [One of the things that I think we have learned is that we should all be very careful about making predictions about the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/one-of-the-things-that-i-think-we-have-learned-is-that-we-should-all/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [I've ceased making predictions on things because we'll see how they turn out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-plouffe/i-ve-ceased-making-predictions-on-things-because-we-ll-see-how-they/) [David Plouffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-plouffe/) > [The thing that people associate with expertise, authoritativeness, kind of with a capital 'A,' don't correlate very well with who's actually good at making…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-silver/the-thing-that-people-associate-with-expertise-authoritativeness-kind/) [Nate Silver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-silver/) > [Making predictions is like throwing a dartboard at the fixture list](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-parry/making-predictions-is-like-throwing-a-dartboard-at-the-fixture-list/) [Mike Parry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-parry/) > [“Choices whose outcomes matter even though they are neither deterministic nor completely random surround us all the time. So it is not surprising that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-christian/choices-whose-outcomes-matter-even-though-they-are-neither/) [David Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-christian/) > [I'm not keen on making predictions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-flintoff/i-m-not-keen-on-making-predictions/) [Andrew Flintoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-flintoff/) > [Astrologers were greatly impressed, and misled, by what they believed to be confirming evidence-so much so that they were quite unimpressed by any unfavorable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/astrologers-were-greatly-impressed-and-misled-by-what-they-believed/) [Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/) > [Predictions of the future are never anything but projections of present automatic processes and procedures, that is, of occurrences that are likely to come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/predictions-of-the-future-are-never-anything-but-projections-of/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Al Gore is producing enough hot air to make his doomsday predictions about global warming a self-fulfilling prophecy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-farah/al-gore-is-producing-enough-hot-air-to-make-his-doomsday-predictions/) [Joseph Farah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-farah/) > [Left Behind takes what to some people may be unbelievable predictions from the Bible and shows how they might play out. It makes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-b-jenkins/left-behind-takes-what-to-some-people-may-be-unbelievable-predictions/) [Jerry B. Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-b-jenkins/) > [Prophecy and prescience - How can they be put to the test in the face of unanswered questions? Consider: How much is actual prediction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/prophecy-and-prescience-how-can-they-be-put-to-the-test-in-the-face/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“the goals are the same: to see the future as multiple possibilities rather than one predetermined outcome; to identify what you do and don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-duhigg/the-goals-are-the-same-to-see-the-future-as-multiple-possibilities/) [Charles Duhigg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-duhigg/) > [“Our knowledge does not help us to forecast the future, but it makes us more certain that our guesses are the right ones. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-carter/our-knowledge-does-not-help-us-to-forecast-the-future-but-it-makes-us/) [Chris Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-carter/) > [For a long time, I have been making many predictions, far in advance, of events since come to pass, naming the particular locality. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nostradamus/for-a-long-time-i-have-been-making-many-predictions-far-in-advance-of/) [Nostradamus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nostradamus/) ## More by Yuval Noah Harari > [“For similar reasons, archaic humans did not initiate any revolutions. As far as we can tell, changes in social patterns, the invention of new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/for-similar-reasons-archaic-humans-did-not-initiate-any-revolutions/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Today the main source of wealth is knowledge. And whereas you can conquer oil fields through war, you cannot acquire knowledge that way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/today-the-main-source-of-wealth-is-knowledge-and-whereas-you-can/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“How do you cause people to believe in an imagined order such as Christianity, democracy or capitalism? First, you never admit that the order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/how-do-you-cause-people-to-believe-in-an-imagined-order-such-as/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [I think the basic thing that happened is we have lost our story. Humans think in stories, and we try to make sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/i-think-the-basic-thing-that-happened-is-we-have-lost-our-story/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas chimpanzees spend five hours a day chewing raw food, a single hour suffices for people eating cooked food. The advent of cooking enabled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-chimpanzees-spend-five-hours-a-day-chewing-raw-food-a-single/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“the Chinese air-purification market is booming.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-chinese-air-purification-market-is-booming/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas liberalism merged with the milder versions of nationalism to protect the unique experiences of each human community, evolutionary humanists such as Hitler identified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-liberalism-merged-with-the-milder-versions-of-nationalism-to/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Corporations, money and nations exist only in our imagination. We invented them to serve us; why do we find ourselves sacrificing our lives in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/corporations-money-and-nations-exist-only-in-our-imagination-we/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Small children in affluent societies often dislike showering, and it takes them years of education and parental discipline to adopt this supposedly attractive custom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/small-children-in-affluent-societies-often-dislike-showering-and-it/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Ever more scholars see cultures as a kind of mental infection or parasite, with humans as its unwitting host. Organic parasites, such as viruses,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/ever-more-scholars-see-cultures-as-a-kind-of-mental-infection-or/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Soviet Communism was a fanatical and missionary religion. A devout Communist could not be a Christian or a Buddhist, and was expected to spread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/soviet-communism-was-a-fanatical-and-missionary-religion-a-devout/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas religion asks us to believe in something, money asks us to believe that other people believe in something”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-religion-asks-us-to-believe-in-something-money-asks-us-to/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Terrorists are like a fly that tries to destroy a china shop. The fly is so weak that it cannot budge even a single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/terrorists-are-like-a-fly-that-tries-to-destroy-a-china-shop-the-fly/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Yet what happens if the greedy shoemaker increases his profits by paying employees less and increasing their work hours? The standard answer is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/yet-what-happens-if-the-greedy-shoemaker-increases-his-profits-by/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“A natural order is a stable order. There is no chance that gravity will cease to function tomorrow, even if people stop believing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/a-natural-order-is-a-stable-order-there-is-no-chance-that-gravity/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) [Explore all 1,200 Yuval Noah Harari quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## More Predictions quotes > [The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-prediction-of-nuclear-winter-is-drawn-not-of-course-from-any/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [With high hope for the future, no prediction is ventured.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/with-high-hope-for-the-future-no-prediction-is-ventured/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The one prediction that never comes true is, 'You'll thank me for telling you this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-martin/the-one-prediction-that-never-comes-true-is-you-ll-thank-me-for/) [Judith Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-martin/) > [I have been in relatively high-risk businesses all of my adult life. Few of the others, however, had the possibility of direct gains in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/i-have-been-in-relatively-high-risk-businesses-all-of-my-adult-life/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [I'm going to make a prediction - it could go either way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-atkinson/i-m-going-to-make-a-prediction-it-could-go-either-way/) [Ron Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-atkinson/) > [One of the things that I think we have learned is that we should all be very careful about making predictions about the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/one-of-the-things-that-i-think-we-have-learned-is-that-we-should-all/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [“The most essential prediction of Darwinism is that, given an astronomical number of chances, unintelligent processes can make seemingly-designed systems, ones of the complexity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-j-behe/the-most-essential-prediction-of-darwinism-is-that-given-an/) [Michael J. Behe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-j-behe/) > [The usefulness of the models in constructing a testable theory of the process is severely limited by the quickly increasing number of parameters which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatol-rapoport/the-usefulness-of-the-models-in-constructing-a-testable-theory-of-the/) [Anatol Rapoport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatol-rapoport/) > [I've ceased making predictions on things because we'll see how they turn out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-plouffe/i-ve-ceased-making-predictions-on-things-because-we-ll-see-how-they/) [David Plouffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-plouffe/) > [The future is itself a story, and predictions are stories we tell to amaze ourselves, to give hope to the desperate, to jolt the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-remnick/the-future-is-itself-a-story-and-predictions-are-stories-we-tell-to/) [David Remnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-remnick/) > [The shape of the heaven is of necessity spherical; for that is the shape most appropriate to its substance and also by nature primary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-shape-of-the-heaven-is-of-necessity-spherical-for-that-is-the/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [A model is a good model if first it interprets a wide range of observations in terms of a simple and elegant model, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/a-model-is-a-good-model-if-first-it-interprets-a-wide-range-of/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [The only useful function of a statistician is to make predictions, and thus to provide a basis for action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-edwards-deming/the-only-useful-function-of-a-statistician-is-to-make-predictions-and/) [W. Edwards Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-edwards-deming/) > [“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/as-democracy-is-perfected-the-office-of-president-represents-more-and/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) > [If the search is for examples that contradict the predictions of standard economic models, a good rule of thumb is to start in France.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-h-frank/if-the-search-is-for-examples-that-contradict-the-predictions-of/) [Robert H. Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-h-frank/) [Browse all 599 Predictions quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/predictions/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“most importantly, this prediction is less of a prophecy and more a way of discussing our present choices. If the discussion makes us choose differently, so that the prediction is proven wrong, all the better. What’s the point of making predictions if they cannot change anything?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Yuval Noah Harari" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/most-importantly-this-prediction-is-less-of-a-prophecy-and-more-a-way/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Predictions" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/most-importantly-this-prediction-is-less-of-a-prophecy-and-more-a-way/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/yuval-noah-harari-100_predictions_most-importantly-this-prediction-is-less_1389467.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/yuval-noah-harari-100_predictions_most-importantly-this-prediction-is-less_1389467.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/yuval-noah-harari-100_predictions_most-importantly-this-prediction-is-less_1389467.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“most importantly, this prediction is less of a prophecy and more a way of discussing our present choices. If…” — Yuval Noah Harari", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Yuval Noah Harari", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“most importantly, this prediction is less...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/most-importantly-this-prediction-is-less-of-a-prophecy-and-more-a-way/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/most-importantly-this-prediction-is-less-of-a-prophecy-and-more-a-way/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```