There have been various notable predictions made throughout history, including those by scientists based on the scientific method, theoretical non-fiction predictions of social and technological change of futurologists, economic forecasts of economists regarding financial markets, wealth and resources, philosophical predictions of the perfectibility of man, religious and teleological predictions, and the fictional predictions of science fiction.

Predictions can be further categorised as good or bad, successful or failed. For some, the jury is still out, such as those of the Malthusian prophets of doom regarding sustainability and overpopulation and the Cornucopian and Utopian futures of abundance and perfection.

Often, the difference between pessimistic and optimistic prediction depends on attitudes such as technophilia, technophobia, and political / social bias.

Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke is famous for his three laws of prediction. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill famously argued that to understand the future it was necessary to understand the past.

Nostradamus is perhaps the world's most famous author of prophecies.