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What the world will be like in a hundred years (1922)

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Re: What the world will be like in a hundred years (1922)

#11

Post by Macha »

krapp wrote: post #6

I am convinced that in 2022 the advancement of science will be amazing, but it will be nothing like so amazing as is the present day in relation to a hundred years ago. A sight of the world today would surprise President Jefferson much more, I suspect, than the world of 2022 would surprise the little girl who sells candies at Grand Central Station. Hubris... hubris never changes.

From a technological perspective, I'm not sure they're wrong? 1922 had railways and cars and mass transit which had already started increasing urbanisation vs 1822, skyscrapers were already being built, passenger air travel was a go, telephones and electricity existed in cities.

The internet and computing is certainly a big shift, but from a visible changes to the world perspective I think 2022 is more alike 1922 than 1922 was alike 1822.

Re: What the world will be like in a hundred years (1922)

#12

Post by hwers »

JofArnold wrote: post #5
bramgn wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but also how outlandish certain ideas were about peeling your house clean and replacing meals with pills...

Huel?

That's a funny one since Huel and Soylent kinda came about because of the 1920s meme idea that pills would replace meals in the future. A lot of these might just be self fulfilling prophecies.

Re: What the world will be like in a hundred years (1922)

#14

Post by glandium »

viraptor wrote: post #9

The "less cleaning due to less coal" part is not something we really think much about these days, but the older limestone buildings can really show the difference. Here's a view with the old and either pressure-washed or redone wall: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Wso9gae4JPsN6NaG6 and that's on a residential side street... Imagine getting your clothes slowly covered with it every time you go out.

Remember how e.g. Notre Dame de Paris looked like before they cleaned it?

Re: What the world will be like in a hundred years (1922)

#15

Post by haunter » 

   >Similar reforms apply to cooking, a great deal of which will survive among old fashioned people, but a great deal more of which will probably be avoided by the use of synthetic foods.
This is very interesting especially if you think "synthetic foods" not just literally but as take out, processed products and such. I know a lot of young professional people who technically never cook. Like almost never and whatever they have at home is just snacks, if you hungry > order. There are a lot people like these.

    >It is conceivable, though not certain, that in 2022 a complete meal may be taken in the shape of four pills. This is not entirely visionary; I am convinced that corned beef hash and pumpkin pie will still exist, but the pill lunch will roll by their side.
Well Soylent do exist so that's not far fetched either.

Re: What the world will be like in a hundred years (1922)

#16

Post by viraptor »

bramgn wrote: post #4
almogbaku wrote: post #2

this is pretty cool to see how he predicted some things pretty good

True, but also how outlandish certain ideas were about peeling your house clean and replacing meals with pills...

> how outlandish certain ideas were about peeling your house clean

Not that outlandish. My shower glass is covered in high tech hydrophobic substance which keeps it clean, but I have to replace it every couple of years. My kid's high chair is covered in easily washable rubber surface that I can literally peel off after a meal, rinse, and replace.

So overall, practical idea that is partially applied.

Re: What the world will be like in a hundred years (1922)

#17

Post by thejohnconway »

krapp wrote: post #6

I am convinced that in 2022 the advancement of science will be amazing, but it will be nothing like so amazing as is the present day in relation to a hundred years ago. A sight of the world today would surprise President Jefferson much more, I suspect, than the world of 2022 would surprise the little girl who sells candies at Grand Central Station. Hubris... hubris never changes.

Hubris? I think he was right, and that the world of 1822 was more different from 1922 than 1922 is to now. Computers seem to be the primary novel invention in the last hundred years, but long-distance data transfer was normal - and the fax machine sending pictures was overseas was just two years away (1924).

1822 was a horse-drawn, gas-lit world that was in many ways the same as it had been for millennia. 1922 was a world where rapid transportation (planes , trains, and automobiles),recorded images and sounds, electric light, radio broadcasts and instantaneous intercontinental communication.

Re: What the world will be like in a hundred years (1922)

#18

Post by golergka »

bambax wrote: post #13

It's striking that most of his true predictions were already in place in the sixties, a mere 40 years after the article was written (and some, much earlier). When we think about the distant future we simply think about tomorrow.

> It's striking that most of his true predictions were already in place in the sixties

In first world countries, may be. Now more of them are true for more and more people all around the globe too.

Re: What the world will be like in a hundred years (1922)

#19

Post by elzbardico »

krapp wrote: post #6

I am convinced that in 2022 the advancement of science will be amazing, but it will be nothing like so amazing as is the present day in relation to a hundred years ago. A sight of the world today would surprise President Jefferson much more, I suspect, than the world of 2022 would surprise the little girl who sells candies at Grand Central Station. Hubris... hubris never changes.

Yep. Penicilin, Heart transplants, Supersonic travel. Nuclear power, Nuclear weapons, Nuclear naval propulsion. Space exploration. Artificial Satellites, GPS, Succesful cancer treatments, NMR and other imaging diagnostic tools. Wireless bi-directional personal television (the 20's name for making a zoom call from your phone). And the list goes on.

Re: What the world will be like in a hundred years (1922)

#20

Post by giantg2 »

hwers wrote: post #12
JofArnold wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huel?

That's a funny one since Huel and Soylent kinda came about because of the 1920s meme idea that pills would replace meals in the future. A lot of these might just be self fulfilling prophecies.

That's generally how things work. Sci-fi and stuff influences the thoughts of others to help make the ideas turn into creations. I think they even made a documentary about all the Star Trek props that became a reality, but I don't remember.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/16/world/gallery/science-fiction...

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