The overall explanation for The Simpsons being able to ‘predict’ the future has more to do with coincidence than the ability to actually predict the future. The reality of this is that the show has managed to get many predictions wrong, in fact, many more said predictions have been wrong than right, but that’s not going to be discussed since it would debunk the idea that The Simpsons have the ability to tell the future, or rather, their writers do. But if one wants to take things even deeper they can go back for decades and look at other shows that have made ‘predictions’ as well when it comes to the show content and what kind of instances and situations have been visited from one show to another. Writers and directors sometimes pick what they believe will be popular in terms of material, and at others, they might follow the current trends and come up with storylines that will get people to watch the show. The act of predicting anything would be guesswork that has a very low percentage of being right, which means that the predictions that any and all shows have made are shots in the dark.
Some have stuck obviously, and yet many have gone quietly into the wilds of pop culture to be remembered fondly as fun episodes but not much else. Thinking that people can predict the future this accurately and then use their shows to express those beliefs is a nice bit of fantasy, and it’s fun to think about, but the fact that some of the things in The Simpsons have come to pass doesn’t mean it’s time to start thinking that the show will be spot-on about everything. Plenty of shows throughout history have predicted a wide number of things, and if that many of them were true then we’d be living in highrises in the sky, have flying cars, and almost everything we do would be automated. Some might want to point out that we’re not too far removed from such a lifestyle today, but there are many that would agree that predictions made in shows are guesses and plot points meant to drive the episode forward.
It’s definitely fun to think that a group of writers can predict what’s going to happen using an animated series to make it fun and light-hearted, but while some of the predictive material did come true in a number of ways, there’s still no solid proof that anything is more than coincidental. Some might claim that stating these predictions as coincidence is the result of people not wanting to see what is right in front of them, while those that are willing to debunk the predictions would say something along the same lines to those that want to believe that predictions don’t follow trends and other events that have been happening throughout the world over the past several decades. Guessing, predicting, and trying to determine what will happen in the days to come is something that’s best left to fortune tellers to be honest since trying to pin down what’s going to happen in the coming future is still an uncertain guess at best.
The whole idea of President Trump winning in 2016 was no doubt influenced by his stated desire to run for president and the idea that the writers wanted one of the most notable celebrities that no one thought could win. As far as the episode in which Lisa becomes president, this is a long-standing belief that many people wanted to see happen since the first female president has been an idea for a long time. If anything, Kamala Harris might have copied Lisa’s outfit since the episode came before the appointing of Harris to VP, which is still worthy of debate, but on someone else’s site. But the fact is that predictions are guesses that people hope will come right, and at times they do happen to work in the manner that people want, and then there are those predictions that are made that come true much to the amazement of those that made them in the first place. Some people get truly frustrated when it comes to thinking of ways to debunk these predictions, but the truth is that stressing about them isn’t worth the effort it takes.
It would appear at times that The Simpsons have been able to predict the future in some ways, but if one is paying attention to the trends, the circumstances, and the way the world continues to offer up clues as to what might happen next, then predicting the future becomes something that just about anyone could do if they’re paying attention. The ability to see into the future has more to do with experience and a whimsical imagination than it does with anything else.
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