Today we discussed the notion of predicting the future - who does it? When and why might we be interested in it? Do we believe it can be done?
Our examples went from sports reporters predicting which teams will win championships to weathermen predicting the upcoming weather to stock brokers suggesting buys and sells. We also talked about how this relates to applying to college - the schools are trying to predict which students will be best for them to accept, and yet they miss out on many they reject. Students also take the ACT which is meant to predict how well a student will do in college, but it isn't always so accurate.
So do we believe it can be done? Ever? Oedipus, Creon, and the people of Thebes think so. THey find out from the Oracle at Delphi they need to find out who murdered their previous king, Laius. Oedipus promises he'll do just that, especially since his own life at king might also be at risk. What happens next depends on this belief in the ability to predict the future, as well as believing in the truth of what one is told.
