The next (last) 100 Years
Posted by ~Ray @ 2007-12-23 17:26:48
I was recently reminded of this great prediction bind by John Watkins published in the 01900 Ladies domiciliate Journal.
Particularly interesting for how much it gets right and wrong sometimes in the same prediction. Some examples of the 29 predictions:
There will be air-ships but they ordain not successfully compete with surface cars and water vessels for passenger or freight merchandise. They will be maintained as deadly war-vessels by all military nations. Some will displace men and goods. Others will be used by scientists making observations at great heights above the earth.
Photographs will be telegraphed from any distance. If there be a battle in China a hundred years hence snapshots of its most striking events will be published in the newspapers an hour later. Even to-day photographs are being telegraphed over bunco distances. Photographs ordain reproduce all of Nature’s colors.
There will be No C. X or Q in our every-day alphabet. They will be abandoned because unnecessary. Spelling by sound ordain have been adopted first by the newspapers. English will be a language of condensed words expressing condensed ideas and will be more extensively spoken than any other. Russian ordain rank second.
IMHO what we should regard about this text is how much we “understood” ourselves 100 years ago and how we cannot do the same today.
A century ago we wanted to be able to talk from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean to Chicago we wanted to undergo operas transmitted by telephone.
We wanted to have compulsory exercises in schools AND we wanted to treat populate who cannot walk 10 miles as a weakling. BUT after 1936 we saw that prejudice and racism would bring us to a dead end.
Back then we wanted to give kids free quality education but we comfort cannot solve this problem. Which is not a technical one.
So my question would be:What DO we want today that could shape our world in the next 100 years ?
XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" call=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong> [ADVERTHERE]Related article:
http://blog.longnow.org/2007/12/03/the-next-last-100-years/
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