Ayleurs old and new,

Is there a word for the tendency, when making predictions, to project the present into the future?

I'll give a few examples here. Although they all come from the world of Science Fiction, I don't think that's the only area in which such a term would be useful:

1. Gerry Anderson's (http://www.fanderson.org.uk/)television series.
(a)Thunderbirds http://www.thunderbirdsonline.co.uk was produced in the 1960s, but set in 2020(ish). The look of the technology, but more especially the hairstyles and clothing adopted by the puppet stars, were very much 60s styles, albeit cutting-edge 60s styles.

(b)UFO http://www.ufo-dvd.com/#
Produced 1969, very daringly set in 1985!
By this time we would all be driving De Lorean style "gull-wing door" cars that sounded jet propelled, but we'd still have early 70s clothes and hairstyles (slightly Chairman Mao suits for Earthlings, as I recall, silver one-piece jobs for people on the Moonbase). Unlike Thunderbirds, UFO used real live actors, which made the dated styles even more obvious. What I find most entertaining about UFO now is the idea that roads could actually be less busy in 15 years time

In fact I don't reckon much of Gerry Anderson's stuff has aged well. The hardware looks good, and most of these programs are (great) fun to watch, but the blatant projection of the then-present into the future is striking, and occasionally ridiculous.

2. H.G.Wells, Jules Verne, Arthur C. Clarke.
OK, I know it's unfair to compare TV programs with books, but I'm making a point. All of these authors have, one way or another, been called prophetic - in other words they didn't project their present into the future as Gerry Anderson did, or at least they did so in a more selective manner. Jules Verne is credited with predicting submarines, H.G. Wells with predicting (errrm) global organisations like the UN (surely something else?..), Clarke with predicting communications satellites.

I realise that we can only really judge how much people are projecting the present in retrospect; but this doesn't stop us assessing someone's powers of prediction in advance (predicting powers of prediction? ) Just think about investments or racing tipsters.

However, it's very specifically the tendency to project the present into the future that I'm talking about here, not simply being a poor prophet.

Gerry Anderson is more ?eh? than Arthur C.Clarke

Arthur C.Clarke is not prone to ?eh?


If there isn't a word for ?eh? then perhaps we could invent one...

Fisk

P.S. I predict that I will need to explain myself better here. Quick check on my own ?eh? factor.