I decided to watch the interview with Dan Gilbert on the psychology of predictions. Here is the link to the video: https://www.labxchange.org/library/pathway/lx-pathway:53ffe9d1-bc3b-4730-abb3-d95f5ab5f954/items/lx-pb:53ffe9d1-bc3b-4730-abb3-d95f5ab5f954:lx_simulation:5e3f229f?source=%2Flibrary%2Fclusters%2Flx-cluster%3AModernPrediction&fullscreen=true
I found two parts of the interview very interesting. The first part was when he explained the technicalities of ruminating on the future. He said that the present is technically an infinitesimally small point in time, and while the past is interesting, nothing can be done about it. Therefore, there is really only the future to think on. This seems obvious, but I had never thought about predictions in that particular way before. It reframed my definition of the concept and made prediction seem like something that is an inherent and intuitive action rather than one that is prompted and a result of conscious thought. The second part that I found interesting was the section on animals. The fact that ravens and crows can make such accurate predictions with regards to their food supply is incredible. I thought that this behavior may be exhibited by dolphins or primates, but it is exhibited by birds!