중남미

the pillars of modern civilization but does not have the time (or will!) to read Smil`s other 40 plus books that offer a deeper treatise on technological evolution, growth, energy and food productions, and more. Smil`s rational, matter-of-fact approach, however, may not appeal to those seeking to reinforce their own prejudices-whether to validate a preferred vision of the future or to dismiss a plausible competing narrative. Smil posits that many recent wishful projections, which are often based on improbable, qualitative assumptions, are unlikely to materialize just like several failed pre- dictions from earlier decades, including the scare of runaway populations and Y2K, or the optimism around nuclear fission and supersonic intercontinental flight that were once projected to take-off in a big way.Thus, Smil reminded the readers: "de omnibus dubitandum, (p198)" i.e., everything must be doubted, especially in current post-factual world where anyone can make baseless, more or less arbitrary, improbable predictions, based on "wishful and exceedingly politically correct narratives."