What is in Kelvin's Head?

Predictions 2023 – How did I do?

31/12/2023

1 Generative artificial intelligence will become significantly disruptive of many sectors this year. Education practices will change quickly as a result of this but education will be but one of many areas of life to be affected.

Happening all around us (even to people who can’t see it happening around them) – prediction fulfilled.

2 No progress for those seeking marriage equality in the Church of England. There will be a lot of talk about moving towards some form of official blessings for same-sex couples which would have the effect of thwarting those seeking actual equality, making it more difficult to achieve. Further division amongst pro-gay activists in the Church of England.

Happening exactly as predicted. The recent developments following the LLF project make equality more even further away – prediction fulfilled.

3 Indyref 2 will not happen on 19 October 2023 as Nicola Sturgeon had hoped, which is a shame for those seeking to separate Scotland from the rest of the UK as the autumn will be the high water mark for the Indepedence movement. It will be downhill into the next General Election after that.

Happenning but not quite as I expected. Indryref didn’t happen but Indy polls are indeed riding high. However I didn’t see the mess the SNP would get itself into along the way. Prediction Fulfilled.

4 Trump and Biden will both declare that they intend to run for the US presidency in 2024 and American politics will continue to be all about Donald Trump.

Exactly as I said – prediction fulfilled.

5 Covid recovery remains bumpy, particularly through supply-chain problems due to mismanagement of Covid in China.

Pretty much as I said – we’ve largely forgotten the supply chain issues that continued from the end of last year into the new year and the spring. Prediction mostly fulfilled.

6 No conclusive end to the war in Ukraine this year.

Alas. Prediction fulfilled

7 Governments in Westminster and Holyrood will announce some kind of “new deal” for the National Heath Service.

Holyrood here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/programme-government-2023-24/pages/5/

Westminster: Pay – here https://healthmedia.blog.gov.uk/2023/07/14/government-accepts-recommendations-from-nhs-pay-review-bodies/
Westminster: Medicines here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/landmark-deal-to-boost-nations-health-and-save-nhs-14-billion

Prediction fulfilled.

8 – UK Government will not succeed in blocking Scottish Gender Recognition Reform.

I remain surprised that the Scottish Governnent gave up on this. Prediction not fulfilled.

9 Liam McArthur’s bill in the Scottish Parliamant to allow doctors to participate in the killing of terminally ill patients will fail to receive parliamentary approval but will receive more support than similar proposals have before.

Bill hasn’t received approval but hasn’t gone to a vote either. Large levels of support in the media. Prediction partially fulfilled.

10 Changes announced to the UK honours system, perhaps at the time of the Coronation, to remove references to empire. OBE becomes Order of British Excellence.

Not happened yet. Prediction not fulfilled.

Result – about 7 1/2 out of 10 this year I think. Not bad.

5 responses to “Young Church Noticeboard”

Jaye Richards-Hill

09/09/2013

A truly heutagogical approach. Now ask them *how* they might go about finding the answers to their questions…

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1. Kelvin
  
  10/09/2013
  
  September 10, 2013 at 10:32 am (Edit)
  
  Jaye – yes indeed and that’s a great supplementary question.
  
  It is significant, I think, that some of us in leadership at St Mary’s have been influenced by Paolo Freire and Ivan Illich, never mind some early experiment in omni-centred theological learning across Scotland. We talk about these things in the office when we are designing processes. How exciting it is to find good examples breaking out in other parts of cathedral life like this where we’ve not planned it.
  
  That’s what is supposed to happen.
  
  Reply
Seph

09/09/2013

I imagine a talk about the bells could be arranged.

Reply
Rosemary Hannah

09/09/2013

Um, I imagine they want a bit more bell than a talk about bells.

Reply
Augur Pearce

09/09/2013

Although the handwriting suggests a single scribe, I suspect source criticism may point to more than one contributor. And instead of leaping (with those who ‘spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new’) straight to the final question, I’m rather reassured to see that the remaining questioners’ interest is more in church history or how things work.

One could combine the first and last questions as ‘Has what happens when you die changed?’. (possible answer: ‘Once you didn’t die at all, but that was before the Fall and a long time ago. Then you went either to a place of torment or to Abraham’s bosom. Then some time in the Dark Ages the options of Limbo and Purgatory became available, but these were closed to new protestant applicants at or soon after the Reformation. For a while after hell was abolished, everyone went to Abraham’s bosom; but now there seems to be the alternative future of total oblivion.’)

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