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The Future - as predicted in 1964

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  • The Future - as predicted in 1964

    Video from the 1964 world's fair and Arthur C. Clarke predicting the future of 2014 and beyond. about 16 min total.

    Really interesting. Some things are spooky accurate (machines that can clear jungles quickly, instant worldwide communication and telecommuting, 3D printing [actually replicators but close enough]) and some things completely off the mark (no more cities because of telecommuting, genetically boosted chimps)

    part 1


    part 2


  • #2
    The things referenced are not completely off the mark. No cities, but telecommuting has definitely is real for many people working from home, and in the near future may change the dynamics of cities.

    Genetic manipulation is very real technology in today's world, and easily be used to modify species including humans and other primates.
    Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
    Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
    But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

    go with the flow the river knows . . .

    Frank

    I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by shunyadragon View Post
      The things referenced are not completely off the mark. No cities, but telecommuting has definitely is real for many people working from home, and in the near future may change the dynamics of cities.

      Genetic manipulation is very real technology in today's world, and easily be used to modify species including humans and other primates.
      Yeah it is all possible. I think they were pretty good at predicting the technology, but not very good at predicting the effects of the technology on society. Like predicting we could communicate instantly anywhere in the world and that would lead to being able to run a business from anywhere. Check. But being wrong about that meaning that people would just give up cities altogether. There are other reasons for people to gather in cities than just business. Although, a lot of people who don't like cities, can still run their businesses while living out in the country if they want to.

      As far as genetic manipulation, again, they got the possible technology right, but not the social aspects. They never predicted that people would reject GMO foods because they thought they were unsafe (same with nuclear power plants) - or that we would be able to clone animals and people but we would be pretty much against it, and even make human cloning illegal. The societal implications are always the hardest to predict.

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      • #4
        I would have thought this thread would be more interesting to people than it appears to be.

        I have always been fascinated by science fiction and how people predict the future.

        I read things like Ray Kurzweil's predictions and think, "this guy is sooooo wrong! how did he get to be known as a futurist?"

        some of his past predictions did come true in some fashion or another, but they were easy predictions that have been made by others for decades, like "books will digital" "self driving cars"

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        • #5
          It's interesting to see some of Willy Ley's conceptions of aerodyamically designed spaceships. Chesley Bonestell used them in some of his artwork and George Pal (I think it was he) used his multi-stage spaceships for a moon landing once.

          There's a humorous painting by Bonestell of Copernicus Crater as seen from the rim. He has his signature shown as carved into the outer rim of the crater and two astronauts standing on the edge. One of the astronauts is pointing curiously at the engraved signature.

          Then there's the old Popular Science, Popular Mechanics and Science & Mechanics magazines of the 1940s and 1950s. I remember one photo of a spacesuit design. It looked like an oil drum with holes for the arms and legs and a slot for the astronaut to look out. God forbid he should ever fall down inside one of those. He could roll around but never get up.

          Then there's the old Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon spaceships. When 2001, A Space Odyssey (followed by Silent Running) had the guts to show non-aerodynamic spaceships, a lot of people were surprised and realized, why do spaceships need wings and smooth surfaces?
          bonestell.jpg
          It was four astronauts.
          Last edited by Faber; 09-07-2016, 09:51 AM.
          When I Survey....

          Comment


          • #6
            220px-Destination_Moon_DVD.jpg
            That was George Pal, Destination Moon.
            When I Survey....

            Comment


            • #7
              Douglas Trumbull did the special effects for Space Odyssey (1968) and Silent Running (1972). Destination: Moon was 1950. What a difference!
              sr.jpg
              When I Survey....

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Faber View Post
                why do spaceships need wings and smooth surfaces?
                To look cool. duh.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Faber View Post
                  [ATTACH=CONFIG]18366[/ATTACH]
                  That was George Pal, Destination Moon.
                  I used to read all of those old 50's and 60's sci-fi novels and magazines. I found a used book store that had tons of them (this was back in the 80's). I don't think I read that one though.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Faber View Post
                    Douglas Trumbull did the special effects for Space Odyssey (1968) and Silent Running (1972). Destination: Moon was 1950. What a difference!
                    [ATTACH=CONFIG]18367[/ATTACH]
                    The song "Silent Running" is my phone's ring tone "Can you hear me? ... Can you hear me calling you?"

                    no relation to the movie.



                    On a relate note, it seems that we are actually turning toward the one piece sleek space ships like in the 50's and 60's sci-fi movies, with Space-X for instance.

                    Dragon-2.0-Draco-Engines-firing-e1461960418351.jpg

                    Space-X-Landing.jpg

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Faber View Post
                      Then there's the old Popular Science, Popular Mechanics and Science & Mechanics magazines of the 1940s and 1950s. I remember one photo of a spacesuit design. It looked like an oil drum with holes for the arms and legs and a slot for the astronaut to look out. God forbid he should ever fall down inside one of those. He could roll around but never get up.
                      There was a website (can't recall the name now) which had scans from magazines from like the early 1900s through the 1970s showing what the future would hold technologically. Some were way off, some were quite prescient.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        "The future isn't what it used to be"

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Sparko View Post
                          "The future isn't what it used to be"
                          Neither is nostalgia.
                          "The Lord loves a working man, don't trust whitey, see a doctor and get rid of it."

                          Navin R. Johnson

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Bret View Post
                            There was a website (can't recall the name now) which had scans from magazines from like the early 1900s through the 1970s showing what the future would hold technologically. Some were way off, some were quite prescient.
                            Found it! Paleofuture Blog. It has since moved on to Gizmodo and is much more commercial so I'm linking to the original.
                            The future as predicted in the 1920s for example.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Bret View Post
                              Found it! Paleofuture Blog. It has since moved on to Gizmodo and is much more commercial so I'm linking to the original.
                              The future as predicted in the 1920s for example.
                              Thanks. That site is awesome:

                              from the link you gave: Tesla predicts portable television:
                              In 1926 Nicola Tesla gave an interview to Collier's Weekly in which he predicted something that sounds remarkably like portable television. Perhaps most interestingly, he mentions that this technology would be used to watch war unfold, "just as though we were present."

                              NEW YORK, Jan 25 - (AP) - Application of radio principles will enable people by carrying a small instrument in their pockets to see distant events like the sorceress of the magic crystal fairy tales and legends, Nikola Tesla, electrical inventor, predicted today. Mr. Tesla, who on several occasion has tried to communicate with the planet Mars, made his predictions in an interview published in the current issue of Collier's Weekly.

                              "We shall be able to witness the inauguration of a president, the playing of a world's series baseball game, the havoc of an earthquake, or a battle just as though we were present," Mr. Tesla said.
                              ===

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