SciFi Books That Predicted the Current Zeitgeist

Read these if you haven't

Some writers have a uncanny ability to see the future.

Near-term, obvious predictions aren’t impressive.

Seeing that X is happening and predicting that Y will follow doesn’t exactly require a cutting-edge intellect.

What really impresses me is when authors from decades ago were able to see what was happening and think “ok, next this will happen, then this, then this, then this other thing, and finally the world will look like THIS”.

The ability to extrapolate out to the fifth or sixth order of effects requires a unique blend of intelligence and personality that few possess.

Here are a few authors who pulled it off:

The Naked Sun - Isaac Asimov

This book is about a planet where people live alone on isolated estates with robots who attend to all their needs.

The people on the planet are so scared of other people that they only interact with each other through screens and feel extreme anxiety/panic when they have to meet with someone face-to-face.

Sound familiar?

And the crazy thing is it came out in 1957.

Isaac Asimov was truly a genius.

Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein