Looking into the Future Casts Shadows

2008 reminded us that human beings have limited ability to peer into the future.  As investment professionals we have attempted to enhance this limited ability by using various models and theories as lenses through which to form views of future risks and returns, and to select investment strategies in light of those views.  Yet many of us were caught off guard by 2008.  Does this mean that our lenses were cloudy, that our models were flawed?