I was looking online to see whether my Australian publisher had started to promote my new book (Future Minds) the other day when I stumbled across someone from Adelaide blogging about my old book saying that it was more or less rubbish and I was more or less an idiot for attempting to predict what might happen in the future. Apparently, this is because my source material for the book was reading newspapers and magazines and because my worldview was coloured by limited experience – namely that of a fifty-year-old bloke from Sydney.

OK, let’s get the record straight. I am a forty-year-old bloke that was living in Sydney but is now living in London. She should have foreseen this, but more on this point in a minute. My worldview is indeed coloured by experience (show me where it isn’t). As for reading newspapers and magazines, yes, I confess. I like newspapers, magazines and books. I also travel and talk to a diverse range of people from all walks of life that are more intelligent than I am to have my views challenged. Clearly, if one spent all day reading the National Enquirer or UFO Monthly one might have a strange view of the future, but I find the Economist, Financial Times, New York Times, New Scientist, Prospect and other publications quite useful.

I have nothing personal against Ms X  but I think she made two key mistakes. Firstly, she openly admitted that she hadn’t actually read Future Files and that her criticism was based on a small article in a regional newspaper. Secondly, her criticism becomes somewhat questionable when you realize what this woman does for a living. She’s a journalist and psychic. Go figure.