Thread by @FryRsquared

No. No it reaally can’t.

(Thread)

https://twitter.com/discussingfilm/status/1215007789547999235

There is BIG money involved in predicting the success of movies, books & music. Yet every decent past attempt to see into the future has failed.

Think about it. If it *was* possible would Cats be a thing??

Here, in 5 screenshots is a chunk on past attempts from my book. 1-3:

And 4-5:

This company isn’t the first to make predictions and won’t be the last.

There was another company whose CEO I interviewed. Claimed they could pinpoint exact lines in scripts and suggest precise changes to make them more profitable.

Here was my write up:

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.

Ask yourself how such things could possibly be validated? Where is the control group? What would have happened anyway, without an intervention?

Unless those questions have good answers, I’m staying sceptical. /end

Three last things:

1) I’m hoping the article/tweet/headline is just an over eager write up.

2) my screenshots all from here (there’s a whole chapter on this stuff): amazon.co.uk/Hello-World-Ho…

3) Can everyone please read Michael Blastland’s ‘The Hidden Half’ already?