prescience

Prescience refers to knowledge of future events or outcomes before they occur. The term is used across disciplines to denote foreknowledge that may arise from reasoning, prophecy, divine attribute, or purported psychic phenomena. Etymologically, it comes from Latin praescientia, praescire meaning "to know beforehand." In ordinary usage, prescience can describe a person who seems to predict events accurately, a policy that correctly anticipates trends, or a work of fiction that foreshadows later developments.

In philosophy and theology, prescience is often contrasted with prophecy. Prophecy is the transmission of foreknowledge, whereas prescience is the possession of such foreknowledge, which may or may not be revealed or communicated. The concept also interacts with discussions of determinism and free will: if the future is foreknown by a powerful agent, some argue this challenges freedom, while others argue that foreknowledge can be compatible with choice.

In popular culture, prescience appears as a theme in literature, film, and games, usually as a dramatic device in which characters or narrators anticipate events. In science and applied contexts, prescience is rarely used as a scientific term; instead, foreseeing outcomes relies on forecasting, statistical modeling, and data-driven prediction. When used, it is typically rhetorical, signaling a high degree of predictive accuracy or strategic insight.

Critically, claims of supernatural prescience lack robust empirical support and are approached with skepticism in mainstream science. The term thus sits at the intersection of language, belief, and the study of prediction.