[ben_w]

> > In fact, for most of the time in human history, the future looked incredibly bleak.

> No, the rate of change was slow enough that you could probably make a good-enough prediction: your life would be similar to that of your father's or grandfathers'.

You are not contradicting the quotation.

You could, as you say, probably make a good-enough prediction: your life would be similar to that of your father's or grandfathers'.

That prediction would be "Just like my parents and grandparents, I live in a cold rotting wooden shack, my entire family have to share a single bed to stay warm, I am only one step up from being my landlord's slave, and this will also be the life of my kids and grandkids".