In a linear conception of time, the future is the portion of the projected time line that is anticipated to occur. In the conception of space-time, the anticipated four dimensional co-ordinates where events occur. In the conception of presentism the future is only made of probabilities that have yet to actualize and this is opposed to the past (the set of moments and events that have already actualized and have been experienced or recorded.) and the present (the set of events that are occurring now).
Despite these cognitive instruments for the comprehension of future, the stochastic nature of many natural and social processes has made complete forecasting the future impossible. Despite this, it has been a long-sought aim of many people and cultures throughout the ages.
The Future also forms a prominent subject for religion. Religions often offer prophecies about life after death and also about the end of the world. Figures claiming to see into the future, such as prophets and diviners, have enjoyed great consideration and even social importance in many past and present communities. Whole pseudo-sciences, such as astrology and cheiromancy, were constructed with the aim of forecasting the future. Much of physical science can be read as an attempt to make quantitative and objective predictions about events.
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