forecast and predicting are similar in meaning. What do you...

forecast and predicting are similar in meaning. What do you mean?
What technical school/s of thought have you studied and practice?

I'd posit ta is for risk management and identifying potential setups and entries. Outside of that, and once a position has been taken, it will go either way. The more in tune with markets you are the better you can apply your craft but predicting is not a part of the puzzle. You asses the odds based on your knowledge of your strategy, parse that against situational awareness (market backdrop), decide where the trade would be wrong and place your bet. Hopefully you have some kind of an edge.

The people who come into technical threads and state 'charts don't work' (I am not accusing you of this) are essentially coming in and saying 'I cannot (or haven't tried to) make this work, therefore you cannot make it work.'

Prediction/forecasting has nothing to do with it. Patterns are useful for quickly looking through hundreds of charts and choosing some candidates, but there are good structural patterns and those we just want to work.

Also mathematical models are leaned on heavily for algorithmic trading.. algos drive over 90% of liquidity in markets.