knowing the present

And speaking of history: I just rewatched my friend Anab Jain’s talk at PopTech from a few years ago, where she cites this passage from Lebbeus Woods:

Who says we cannot know the future? We can, but it always a matter of interpretation, that is, of imagination. If that seems obvious, I should point out something not so obvious: that knowing the present is also always an act of imagination. We gather the facts, at least the ones available, or the ones we want, and describe what is happening around and within us. It is always an act of invention. If—following the conventions of our social group—enough people agree, then we have an accurate description of reality, the truth that Voltaire called (referring to history), “the lie commonly agreed upon.”