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PREDICTIONS – 10 Years Later - Santa Fe Institute

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3. INANIMATE PRODUCTION LIKE ANIMATE REPRODUCTION<br />

The growth of a population—be it rabbits, cars, computers, bacteria,<br />

human cells, supertankers, Gothic cathedrals, atom smashers, barrels of<br />

oil, or Christian saints—may display the S-shaped pattern characteristic<br />

of natural growth. Conversely, if a population evolves along an S-curve,<br />

the growth process it follows must be a natural one. In either case the<br />

life cycle of the process will not remain incomplete under normal conditions.<br />

Consequently, missing data can be guessed both in the future<br />

(forecasting) and in the past (backcasting) by constructing the complete<br />

symmetric S-curve.<br />

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