Technology has allowed us to have more drought-resistant crops. The spotty nature of drought the spotty nature of rains can sometimes result in better yields than anticipated.

Predicting has a spotty record in science fiction. I've had some failures. On the other hand I also predicted the fall of the Berlin Wall and the rise of fundamentalist Islam... and I'm not happy to be right in all of those cases.

At the age of 11 I was about 6 ft. tall and my voice had completely broken. That caused problems. I was this gangly spotty very unattractive kid. I wasn't cool and I wasn't a nerd. I didn't even want to fit in with anyone.