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jtuck004

(15,882 posts)
Sat Jan 4, 2014, 10:16 PM Jan 2014

Isaac Asimov Predicts in 1964 What the World Will Look Like Today — in 2014

EllenG posted this back in November, http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017157613 but I thought it was worth a second look at the beginning of 2014.

He got several things right on the nose, a few off a bit. Google glasses got nothin' on this guy - he had amazing vision 50 years into the future, though perhaps he was a little too optimistic about our ability to fix our culture to really take advantage of the human resources we have...

And if I missed you before, I hope this is a good New Year for you.


“Gadgetry will continue to relieve mankind of tedious jobs. Kitchen units will be devised that will prepare ‘automeals,’ heating water and converting it to coffee; toasting bread; frying, poaching or scrambling eggs, grilling bacon, and so on. Breakfasts will be ‘ordered’ the night before to be ready by a specified hour the next morning.”

“Communications will become sight-sound and you will see as well as hear the person you telephone. The screen can be used not only to see the people you call but also for studying documents and photographs and reading passages from books. Synchronous satellites, hovering in space will make it possible for you to direct-dial any spot on earth, including the weather stations in Antarctica.”

“Men will continue to withdraw from nature in order to create an environment that will suit them better. By 2014, electroluminescent panels will be in common use. Ceilings and walls will glow softly, and in a variety of colors that will change at the touch of a push button.”

“Robots will neither be common nor very good in 2014, but they will be in existence.”
...


More, here.

H/T to Ritholtz, here.

Anyone up for an online class in Fortran?



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Isaac Asimov Predicts in 1964 What the World Will Look Like Today — in 2014 (Original Post) jtuck004 Jan 2014 OP
Interestingly, not too far off on a lot of the predictions. Pretty cool. kysrsoze Jan 2014 #1
He missed the mark on one thing... LAGC Jan 2014 #2
That prediction about yuiyoshida Jan 2014 #3
LOL. Now that's funny...wait jtuck004 Jan 2014 #4

LAGC

(5,330 posts)
2. He missed the mark on one thing...
Sun Jan 5, 2014, 02:37 AM
Jan 2014
“Mankind will suffer badly from the disease of boredom, a disease spreading more widely each year and growing in intensity. This will have serious mental, emotional and sociological consequences, and I dare say that psychiatry will be far and away the most important medical specialty in 2014.”


If only he could have foreseen the advent of video games.

While it is true that psychiatry is pretty big right now, I have no doubt the invention of video games is a very large part responsible for the steadily decreasing violent crime rate in First World countries over the past 20 years...

Indeed, all those teenagers and young adults are no longer out and about wandering the streets with "idle hands being the devil's playthings" and all... these days, instead of the adrenaline rush of carjacking and robbing real people, maladjusted youth can get their kicks off playing violent games like Grand Theft Auto instead.

Video games really have helped pacify a population with more and more free time on their hands, thanks to technology replacing so many menial jobs.
 

jtuck004

(15,882 posts)
4. LOL. Now that's funny...wait
Sun Jan 5, 2014, 04:57 AM
Jan 2014

"Men will continue to withdraw from nature in order to create an environment that will suit them better...."

uh-oh. Though I bet he never thought food would come to this.

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