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"I did more research, and realized I almost would rather be a biologist than a writer, because there was incredible stuff going on!"
- Greg Bear

Prethink  
  The ability to predict the future in a routine perceptual manner.  

Cris Johnson was unlike no other man; he saw the future as we see the present.

"He can look ahead. See what's coming. He can - prethink. Let's call it that. He can see into the future. Probably he doesn't perceive it as the future."

"No," Anita said thoughtfully. "It would seem like the present. He has a broader present. But his present lies ahead, not back. Our present is related to the past Only the past is certain, to us. To him, the future is certain. And he probably doesn't remember the past, any more than any animal remembers what happened."

Technovelgy from The Golden Man, by Philip K. Dick.
Published by If in 1954
Additional resources -

What lies in the future for beings like Cris Johnson?

"As he develops," Baines said, "as his race evolves, it'll probably expand its ability to prethink. Instead of ten minutes, thirty minutes. Then an hour. A day. A year. Eventually, they'll be able to keep ahead a whole lifetime..."

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Golden Man
  More Ideas and Technology by Philip K. Dick
  Tech news articles related to The Golden Man
  Tech news articles related to works by Philip K. Dick

Prethink-related news articles:
  - We All See The Future Like Dick's 'Prethink'
  - Brain Wave Patterns Predict Mistakes

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