WSC 2025

Big Dig

A large Boston highway project aimed at reducing traffic by burying roads underground; known for major delays and budget overruns.

Channel Tunnel

A tunnel under the English Channel linking the UK and France by rail; major engineering feat.

California High-Speed Rail

An ambitious train project connecting Californian cities; delayed and over budget.

Sejong City

A planned South Korean city built to decentralize government from Seoul.

Hambantota

A Sri Lankan port project funded by China; later leased to China due to debt.

NEOM

A futuristic smart city planned in Saudi Arabia; promises innovation but faces skepticism.

Khazar Islands

An unfinished Azerbaijani luxury development on artificial islands, modeled after Dubai.

Three Gorges Dam

The world's largest hydroelectric dam in China; highly powerful but controversial.

Hong Kong-Zhuhai Bridge

A long sea bridge connecting Hong Kong, Macau, and Zhuhai; built to boost trade.

New Eurasia Land Bridge

A transcontinental rail system connecting China to Europe under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Australia's fiber internet plan

A national plan to provide high-speed internet, later downgraded and still incomplete.

Canada's high-speed rail

A project that was rebranded as "high-frequency" rail after failing to meet speed goals.

WHO (World Health Organization)

Declared loneliness a global health crisis in 2023.

Japan's loneliness tech

Includes robots and digital companions to reduce isolation among the elderly.

UN Development Programme

Reported worsening living conditions in 90% of countries in 2021.

Podcasts

Audio shows that surged in popularity during the pandemic, becoming a social outlet for many.

Charles Guiteau

The assassin of U.S. President Garfield who believed they shared a personal bond.

Parasocial relationships

One-sided emotional bonds formed with media personalities or influencers.

Algorithms

Code that controls what users see online; can promote harmful content for engagement.

Moore's Law

The idea that computing power doubles regularly; often cited in tech-driven future predictions.

"Counting Up to Twenty"

A musical piece mentioned as an example of past optimism about the future.

Robert Browning

Poet known for the phrase "The best is yet to be," often quoted to inspire hope.

Nostradamus

A 16th-century French seer known for vague yet enduring predictions.

Horace - "Ode I.11"

A Roman poet urging people to embrace the present instead of predicting the future.

William Butler Yeats - "The Second Coming"

A symbolic poem about chaos and change, not literal prophecy.

Robert Frost - "Fire and Ice"

A metaphorical reflection on how the world might end—desire (fire) or hate (ice).

Emily Dickinson - "The Future—never spoke"

A brief poem emphasizing the unknowability of the future.

Comparative horoscopy

Matching horoscopes across people or events to find patterns.

Haruspicy

Reading the entrails of sacrificed animals for omens.

Ornithomancy

Divining the future by observing bird behavior.

Alectryomancy

Using a rooster's pecking to choose letters or answers.

Pyro-osteomancy

Interpreting cracks in heated bones.

Oneiromancy

Interpreting dreams as omens or messages.

Bibliomancy

Opening a book (often religious) to a random page for guidance.

Hydromancy

Divination using water—ripples, flow, or reflections.

Astragalomancy

Casting animal knucklebones to predict outcomes.

Scyphomancy

Reading signs in cups, often involving water or wine.

Astrology

Belief that planetary positions influence human lives.

Palmistry

Reading palm lines to predict personality and fate.

Physiognomy

Judging character based on facial features.

Ceromancy

Pouring wax into water and interpreting the shapes.

Tasseography

Reading tea leaves or coffee grounds.

Cartomancy

Using cards (like tarot) to predict the future.

Fortune teller

A general term for someone claiming to predict your fate.

Oracle

A prophetic figure or place where divine advice is given.

Soothsayer

An older term for a person claiming future knowledge.

Shaman

A spiritual figure who may perform healing and divination.

Witch

A person believed to have magical or prophetic powers.

Clairvoyant

Someone who claims to perceive events beyond normal senses.

Ifá

A West African system of divination involving rituals and oral wisdom.

Jyotish

Hindu astrology, focused on planetary positions and karma.

I Ching

An ancient Chinese divination text using hexagrams.

Bazi

A Chinese fortune-telling method based on birth date and time.

Jiaobei

Chinese wooden blocks tossed to get yes/no answers from deities.

Omikuji

Japanese fortune slips drawn at shrines.

Ouija

A board used to "communicate" with spirits by spelling messages.

Crystal ball

A clear orb used to "see" visions of the future.

Fortune cookies

Mass-produced treats with printed predictions inside.

Horoscopes

Daily or monthly zodiac-based predictions often in media.

Michio Kaku

A physicist who writes about future technology and society.

Caravaggio - The Fortune Teller

A painting showing a young man being deceived by a gypsy fortune teller.

Georges de la Tour - The Fortune Teller

Depicts a wealthy youth distracted by fortune-telling while being robbed.

Michael Vrubel - The Fortune Teller

A moody, symbolist painting with mystical tones.

Julio Romero de Torres - The Fortune Teller

A Spanish modernist painting exploring destiny and femininity.

Helena Sofia Schjerfbeck - The Fortune Teller

A contemplative modernist work featuring a woman in yellow.

Jose Luis Cuevas - Dreams of Rasputin

A surreal piece referencing mysticism and madness.

Georges Bizet - "Trio des Cartes"

An opera scene involving fortune-telling with cards.

Carl Orff - "O Fortuna"

A dramatic musical piece about fate, from Carmina Burana.

Benny Spellman - "Fortune Teller"

A 1960s pop song about romantic predictions.

Al Stewart - "Nostradamus"

A 1970s song reflecting on prophecy and history.

Suzanne Vega - "Predictions"

A song exploring the human desire to foresee the future.

Barnum effect

Belief that vague statements personally apply to you.

Pygmalion effect

Higher expectations lead to better performance.

Cold reading

Inferring personal details using cues, often used by "psychics."

Confirmation bias

Tendency to favor information that supports your beliefs.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

A belief that causes itself to become true.

Ted Chiang - What's Expected of Us

A short story questioning whether choice exists at all.

C. Robert Cargill - Sea of Rust

A novel where AI reflects on determinism and memory.

Sam Hughes - I Don't Know

Timmy, Being God Is a Big Responsibility, A satirical take on choice, control, and free will.

Genetic determinism

The idea that genes entirely shape behavior.

Biological determinism

Suggests biology limits or defines personal destiny.

Other determinisms

Includes environmental or social factors controlling behavior.

Chinese agricultural calendar

Predicts seasons and tides from centuries of observation.

Aztec agricultural calendar

Ancient system tracking farming and ritual cycles.

Mayan cyclical calendars

Known for complex cycles including the Long Count.

Zodiac

A 12-sign astrological system tied to birth dates and celestial patterns.

Solar terms

24 periods in East Asian calendars marking seasonal changes.

Computus

The method used to calculate the date of Easter each year.

Saros

An 18-year eclipse cycle used in astronomy.

Metonic cycle

A 19-year cycle syncing solar years with lunar months.

Antikythera mechanism

An ancient Greek device for predicting celestial events.

Weather forecasting

Uses models and data to predict short-term atmospheric changes.

Climate models

Predict long-term global trends, influenced by emissions and feedback loops.

Chaos theory

Studies how small changes can cause big effects in complex systems.

Emergence

Complex patterns arising from simple rules.

Self-organization

Order naturally forming without central control.

De-centralization

Power or structure spread across many parts instead of centralized control.

Feedback

A system's output loops back as input, affecting future behavior.

Determinism

The belief that all events are caused by preceding factors.

Chaotic systems

Systems that appear random but follow underlying rules.