Word: condorcet
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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With a few exceptions, the record of the social forecasters is even more dismal than that of their brethren in the physical sciences. In 1784 the Marquis de Condorcet, a leading mathematician and philosopher of the Enlightenment, saw a placid present and looked forward to an even more placid future. "The great probability," he said, "is that we will have fewer great changes and fewer large revolutions to expect from the future than from the past. The prevailing spirit of moderation and peace seems to assure us that henceforth wars will be less frequent." Reverse everything and Condorcet would have...