Long-term thinking and predicting the future are related but not the same thing. For example, if you knew you were going to unavoidably die in a month, you probably wouldn't eat the same way as if you thought you had 30-70 years ahead of you. The fact we can't predict these things doesn't mean it's a good idea to gorge on junk food every day.
That's a great point: long-term thinking is not about predicting the future, but scenario analysis where you anticipate a number of possible/probable future. When the actual future unfolds, you can say, "oh, that future", open envelope #2, and steer accordingly. :)
