Another work in which Lem mirrors his theme of contact with the alien in the structure of the narrative is The Futurological Congress (1971). In this short novel the author pictures a host of futuro-logical scenarios concerning the fate of the Earth in the event of an unchecked population explosion. At the same time he puts his own speculative efforts in perspective by reflecting on the nature of futuro-logical forecasting. At one point in the novel, Professor Trottelreiner, one of its maniacal characters, describes one of such forecasting methods in a way which suggests parallels with Lem's own efforts in this direction.

Linguistic modeling, which on a basic level will be represented by a creative use of language in fiction, can intimate the future by examining the possible evolution of language. In other words, by studying the possible development of linguistic expressions we may learn what categories...