CHAPTER 3
"The Near Future Is Already Here"
Based on past data, calculations were made that predicted the events of the near future
journalist Peter Honigman faces pressure to complete a report on nuclear arsenals in the Middle East while feeling mentally exhausted. A break at a café, where he enjoys a croissant and espresso without his smartphone, offers him a brief escape from technology until he feels watched and meets an intriguing woman. Returning to work, he panics upon discovering his report is missing but later retrieves his smartphone, potentially averting disaster. Concurrently, intern Lee at Bank of America grapples with year-end tasks and embraces innovative thinking but faces challenges with slow software. In haste, he applies his own algorithm for market trend analysis, inadvertently creating a summary that leads to sharp market declines when he mistakenly predicts a collapse. Lee's actions, while quick, have significant repercussions, illustrating the unpredictability of his choices in a true Black Swan event.
