all 16 comments

[–]Wishta 13 points14 points ago

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My favorite one is: "Every man who can not walk 10 miles is considered a weakling."

Poor America.

[–]elizzybeth 6 points7 points ago

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I think one of the most interesting things about this list is how the author was able to predict some of the benefits and consequences of the internet ("Photographs will be Telegraphed from any distance," "Man will see around the world," "Grand Opera will be Telephone to private homes," English as the widespread language of international communication) even without imagining the internet itself.

I also like "Peas as large as beets" just because it's such a weird and unnecessary idea.

Annnd this makes me sad that we don't have free higher education, pneumatic tubes delivering packages, or noise-free cities.

[–]quackdamnyou 0 points1 point ago

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Well, to be fair, most of those predictions came about well before the Internet, thanks to radio, television, newspapers, airplanes, etc.

[–]elizzybeth 1 point2 points ago

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That's a good point. But of all the lists I've read like this, this is the first to have spent so much time talking about how communication and media sharing will be one of the most important advances of the 20th century.

I'm used to seeing predictions for the future populated with stuff like jetpacks and flying cars and robotic maids and moon bases.

[–]quackdamnyou 0 points1 point ago

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I agree, it is prescient in that sense. I just don't attribute too much of that to the Internet. If they'd said, "you will have a mechanical machine in your home that will put the libraries of the world at your fingertips" I might say that was a prediction of the Internet. Which is an idea that, if I'm not mistaken, a few big thinkers did anticipate.

[–]Tularemia 0 points1 point ago

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I also like "Peas as large as beets" just because it's such a weird and unnecessary idea.

Well, I think he got the general idea correct. Whether via simple genetic selection or growth hormones and antibiotics, we have managed to make our food a lot bigger than it used to be.

[–]margethemouse 4 points5 points ago

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"He will live fifty years instead of thirty-five at present." Dang, modern medicine be bitchin'.

[–]Rydel6 2 points3 points ago

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Makes me want to publish a list for the next hundred years to be made of then.

[–]Maverick_Pirate 1 point2 points ago

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shame no-one will be around to read it

[–]NikkiNikanj 0 points1 point ago

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Predictions for 2112. A first group of people, mostly those who made the 2012 predictions, just transferred their minds into new bodies, as their old bodies could not be restored enough to benefit from all modern therapies. Like everyone born in the last half century, they now expect to see a youthful twenty second century.

They're still pissed at all the shit heads who burned all the oil instead of keeping it as a more useful building material - old age still makes them grumpy.

[–]irishluck2012 1 point2 points ago

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Is there a place to find more things like this published from long ago? I love reading these but I can never find any on my own :( also it would be interesting to see what changed on the list in a 5-10 year period

[–]LordNero 1 point2 points ago

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How much is a horse nowadays?

[–]tin_dog 1 point2 points ago

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About the same as a car. You want the newest Ferrari or an old Toyota?

[–]StevenSkytower[S] 0 points1 point ago

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Depends on breed, age, health, and type of work.

[–][deleted] ago

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[deleted]

[–]StevenSkytower[S] 0 points1 point ago

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Oversight

[–]TomasServo 1 point2 points ago

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Pffft! He doesn't mention anything about the universal availability of cat pics.