The Coffee House
  • Community Intro
  • Staff Intro
  • Rules
  • Search
  • Members
  • Misc
    • View New Posts
    • View Today's Posts
    • Calendar
    • Awards
    • Old TCH
Login or Register Hello There, Guest! Please Login or Register to gain Full Access!
Login
Username/Email:
Password:
Lost Password?
 

  1. The Coffee House
  2. Topical discussions
  3. History and Civilizations
  4. What past predictions of the future got right
Pages (2): 1 2 Next »
Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Threaded Mode
What past predictions of the future got right
Kyng
Thomas the Twonk Engine
Owner
Posts: 203,971
Threads: 15,687
Joined: May 2018
Reputation: 87
Original Join Date: 3rd December 2009
Real Name: Christopher

Coffee Credits: 331,262CC
#1
09-02-2018, 09:07 PM
Many of us love to make predictions and prophecies about the future: it's a pursuit that's about as old as human history itself. Nowadays, we're still making prediction after prediction on a daily basis: some of these will come true, but many won't (especially given how contradictory many of these are). 

If we want to know what predictions of the future are likely to come true, then perhaps it's instructive to take a look at past attempts to predict what was then the future, and see what they got right. In this video, YouTube user Second Thought explores this, and lists past predictions from a variety of fields which turned out to be correct (and what turned out to be horribly wrong :P ): 



If you haven't got time to watch the full video, then here are some of the more interesting examples: 
 
  • Self-driving cars were predicted in the 1950s (although, they also thought cars might have aeroplane-style controls - which never caught on, as they were complicated and unnecessary);
  • People in the 1920s correctly predicted that we'd one day have our phones with us everywhere (although they thought the phones would be mounted on our chests!);
  • By the 1960s, people were predicting that we'd one day be doing most of our learning on computers (although, their timing was off: they expected this to be the norm by 1999. In reality, this is still a work-in-progress, although things are definitely trending in that direction);
  • Again, by the 1960s, there were pretty accurate predictions of people shopping on computers within the comfort of their own home (although, some of the earlier predictions had shoppers communicating with humans over a telephone);
  • If these predictions were way off on anything, it was sociological change. For example, in the 'phone' prediction, only men had phones with them, and in the 'home shopping' prediction, it was still the husband paying for everything.
  • Oh yeah, and if you make it all the way through, this video ends with a great ad transition :lol: ! 

So, does anyone know of any other examples of past predictions of the future that ended up being correct?
[Image: Train_lover_userbar.png]

Board Information and Policies
Affiliation | Coffee Credits | Ranks and Awards | Name Changes
Account Deletion | BBCode Reference


Moonface (in 'Woman runs 49 red lights in ex's car')' Wrote: If only she had ran another 20 lights. :hehe:

(Thanks to Nilla for the avatar, and Detective Osprey for the sig!)
Quote
My Awards
x1 x1 x2 x2 x5 x3 x1 x3 x7
My Items

  •
Website
Quote
Options

MegaphoneStallone
Posting Freak
Silver Members
Posts: 2,562
Threads: 125
Joined: Jun 2018
Reputation: 19

Coffee Credits: 14,477CC
#2
09-03-2018, 12:34 AM
Stopped when the ad came on!
Man, I love videos like this and I think it's hilarious the way they thought the patriarchy would live on. :P
Quote
My Awards
x1
My Items

  •
Quote
Options

Deleted User 8
Guest
 
#3
09-03-2018, 05:03 PM
The Simpsons had predicted that Trump would be president, in an episode aired in 2000. Sixteen years later, the show was right.

Coincidence? I think not.
Quote
My Awards
My Items
[-] The following 1 user Likes Guest's post:1 user Likes Guest's post
  • Detective Osprey
Quote
Options

Kyng
Thomas the Twonk Engine
Owner
Posts: 203,971
Threads: 15,687
Joined: May 2018
Reputation: 87
Original Join Date: 3rd December 2009
Real Name: Christopher

Coffee Credits: 331,262CC
#4
09-03-2018, 10:33 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-03-2018, 10:34 PM by Kyng.)
Reminds me of the "20 years from now" skits on Laugh-In in the 1960s and the 1970s :P . 

One of those correctly predicted the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. (Granted, they went on to suggest that it would be replaced by a moat full of alligators, but getting something like that to the exact year is pretty impressive). They also made references to "President Ronald Reagan" - which got a good laugh from the audience, since he was regarded as something of a joke at the time!

(Sadly, I can no longer find a good clip of this on YouTube :( )
[Image: Train_lover_userbar.png]

Board Information and Policies
Affiliation | Coffee Credits | Ranks and Awards | Name Changes
Account Deletion | BBCode Reference


Moonface (in 'Woman runs 49 red lights in ex's car')' Wrote: If only she had ran another 20 lights. :hehe:

(Thanks to Nilla for the avatar, and Detective Osprey for the sig!)
Quote
My Awards
x1 x1 x2 x2 x5 x3 x1 x3 x7
My Items

  •
Website
Quote
Options

Nick
Senior Member
****
Posts: 353
Threads: 12
Joined: Jun 2018
Reputation: 7
Original Join Date: June 15, 2017
Real Name: Nick

Coffee Credits: 8,368CC
#5
09-04-2018, 06:25 AM
Isaac Asimov (1920 - 1992) certainly made some predictions about the future that ended up wrong, but he did get some interesting ones right:

“Men will continue to withdraw from nature in order to create an environment that will suit them better.” - According to the article, more and more of us are living in urban areas as time goes on.

“Gadgetry will continue to relieve mankind of tedious jobs.” - It's not difficult to imagine how automation has engulfed many areas of labor.

“Robots will neither be common nor very good in 2014, but they will be in existence.” - Hard to contest this, if we take "robots" to refer to the humanoid-esque machines we find in Asimov's stories.

“Large solar-power stations will also be in operation in a number of desert and semi-desert areas.” - Fortunately, we are beginning to transition into solar-power by way of solar farms.

“Much effort will be put into the designing of vehicles with ‘Robot-brains.’” - The article goes so far as to call it an "arms race" to the production of self-driving cars.

“Communications will become sight-sound and you will see as well as hear the person you telephone.” - Facetime and Skype are some such examples of this.

While not all of these predictions are given precise timelines, it's interesting to see how past-humanity thought how now-outdated technology would eventually evolve into. Solar energy and self-driving cars, while not commonly relied on, seem so conceptually ingrained into our society that it seems almost foreign to think that we'd go in another direction.
[Image: ugJtIBk.png]
Quote
My Awards
My Items
Crobat Scizor Cofagrigus Kingdra Tyranitar Snorlax
[-] The following 1 user Likes Nick's post:1 user Likes Nick's post
  • Detective Osprey
Quote
Options

Eremurus
never odd or even
Posts: 5,276
Threads: 26
Joined: Jun 2018

Coffee Credits: 32,807CC
#6
09-08-2018, 08:45 PM
(09-03-2018, 12:34 AM)MegaphoneStallone Wrote: Stopped when the ad came on!
Man, I love videos like this and I think it's hilarious the way they thought the patriarchy would live on. :P

It does in every single non-developed nation, though.  :huh:
Quote
My Awards
x1 (2018) x1
My Items
Tranquility Galaxy Spooks Eremurus Antarctica Yhii Aesop Sorrow Lonely Archimedes Secret Whisper Dream Oddity Fortress Strange Stratosphere Purgatory Halloween Sadness

  •
Quote
Options

MegaphoneStallone
Posting Freak
Silver Members
Posts: 2,562
Threads: 125
Joined: Jun 2018
Reputation: 19

Coffee Credits: 14,477CC
#7
09-09-2018, 02:28 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-09-2018, 02:29 AM by MegaphoneStallone.)
(09-08-2018, 08:45 PM)Crooked Crow Wrote:
(09-03-2018, 12:34 AM)MegaphoneStallone Wrote: Stopped when the ad came on!
Man, I love videos like this and I think it's hilarious the way they thought the patriarchy would live on. :P

It does in every single non-developed nation, though.  :huh:  

Back in those days though, anyone who wasn't like their 'perfect white Western' selves was inferior. So let's not deny the American videos were not exactly a looking glass into the future of the world, they were a look at their future selves.

I'm not denying misogyny is a disgusting trait the world over to this day. It's a sad reality. But in the views of these people depicted at the times they were depicted, they were the enlightened ones...I guess not much has changed as perhaps we'd like to think - the West still has a superiority complex.
Quote
My Awards
x1
My Items

  •
Quote
Options

Eremurus
never odd or even
Posts: 5,276
Threads: 26
Joined: Jun 2018

Coffee Credits: 32,807CC
#8
09-09-2018, 02:31 AM
(09-09-2018, 02:28 AM)MegaphoneStallone Wrote:
(09-08-2018, 08:45 PM)Crooked Crow Wrote:
(09-03-2018, 12:34 AM)MegaphoneStallone Wrote: Stopped when the ad came on!
Man, I love videos like this and I think it's hilarious the way they thought the patriarchy would live on. :P

It does in every single non-developed nation, though.  :huh:   

Back in those days though, anyone who wasn't like their 'perfect white Western' selves was inferior. So let's not deny the American videos were not exactly a looking glass into the future of the world, they were a look at their future selves.

I'm not denying misogyny is a disgusting trait the world over to this day. It's a sad reality. But in the views of these people depicted at the times they were depicted, they were the enlightened ones...I guess not much has changed as perhaps we'd like to think - the West still has a superiority complex. 

Please cut to the chase, I don't really know what you're trying to insinuate here.
Quote
My Awards
x1 (2018) x1
My Items
Tranquility Galaxy Spooks Eremurus Antarctica Yhii Aesop Sorrow Lonely Archimedes Secret Whisper Dream Oddity Fortress Strange Stratosphere Purgatory Halloween Sadness

  •
Quote
Options

MegaphoneStallone
Posting Freak
Silver Members
Posts: 2,562
Threads: 125
Joined: Jun 2018
Reputation: 19

Coffee Credits: 14,477CC
#9
09-09-2018, 02:39 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-09-2018, 02:40 AM by MegaphoneStallone.)
(09-09-2018, 02:31 AM)Crooked Crow Wrote:
(09-09-2018, 02:28 AM)MegaphoneStallone Wrote:
(09-08-2018, 08:45 PM)Crooked Crow Wrote: It does in every single non-developed nation, though.  :huh:   

Back in those days though, anyone who wasn't like their 'perfect white Western' selves was inferior. So let's not deny the American videos were not exactly a looking glass into the future of the world, they were a look at their future selves.

I'm not denying misogyny is a disgusting trait the world over to this day. It's a sad reality. But in the views of these people depicted at the times they were depicted, they were the enlightened ones...I guess not much has changed as perhaps we'd like to think - the West still has a superiority complex.   

Please cut to the chase, I don't really know what you're trying to insinuate here.  
- Mysogyny bad. Inexcusable. It's everywhere, but it's not everyone - developing nation or not. But it should be nowhere and no one.
- Racist attitudes at the time the clips in the video above shown were rife - and the western superiority was real. The apparent assumption in these videos were that the patriarchy would stay real where they were (The enlightened West) into the future, which is interesting now looking back over the last 60 years or so.
- The west (or so called developed nations) is still massively racist, still making everyone else (in their land or not) 'the other' and still has a superiority complex...Not to mention the rise of supremacy or nationalist movements lately.

I guess my point in a nutshell is, developed nations aren't so great either.
The problems may be different, but they're still pretty ****ing bad.
Quote
My Awards
x1
My Items

  •
Quote
Options

Kyng
Thomas the Twonk Engine
Owner
Posts: 203,971
Threads: 15,687
Joined: May 2018
Reputation: 87
Original Join Date: 3rd December 2009
Real Name: Christopher

Coffee Credits: 331,262CC
#10
09-09-2018, 02:55 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-09-2018, 03:00 PM by Kyng.)
Okay, we're getting wildly off-topic here. The only point here that's on-topic at all is "The apparent assumption in these videos were that the patriarchy would stay real where they were (The enlightened West) into the future, which is interesting now looking back over the last 60 years or so."

Can we please get back to discussing past predictions of the future?
[Image: Train_lover_userbar.png]

Board Information and Policies
Affiliation | Coffee Credits | Ranks and Awards | Name Changes
Account Deletion | BBCode Reference


Moonface (in 'Woman runs 49 red lights in ex's car')' Wrote: If only she had ran another 20 lights. :hehe:

(Thanks to Nilla for the avatar, and Detective Osprey for the sig!)
Quote
My Awards
x1 x1 x2 x2 x5 x3 x1 x3 x7
My Items

  •
Website
Quote
Options

« Next Oldest | Next Newest »

Pages (2): 1 2 Next »


  • View a Printable Version
Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)

About Our Community

Discuss about various topics in our community and have fun while doing so. Welcome to The Coffee House

Quick Links



Reach Us

Contact Us  Meet Our team

Powered By MyBB. Crafted by EreeCorp. Based on Purple Origin by Detective Osprey. Character and item imagery copyright Nintendo. View our Privacy Policy.
Smilies provided for free by Mazeguy Smilies and JoyPixels
Linear Mode
Threaded Mode