What the hell has happened?

[Jaythulhu]

I grew up in the 80s, and my childhood was filled with visions of a post-2000 earth, where we'd be moving around in flying cars, wearing strange metallic jumpsuits, travelling to mars for holidays or even living there, robots to do my work for me so all I'd have to do each day is wake up, have some fun and spend my pay...

What happened? Where did human development get so derailled that our kids aren't as competent as uneducated commoners from 200 years ago, our political systems primarily concentrate on making themselves money and staying in power, no ones gives two shits about anything other than what affects them directly. Racism and homophobia, poverty and disease still run rampant...

Every day I read the paper and shake my head. Is there anything that can be done to give humanity a big shove into sustainable and self-aware development, or are we doomed to end up in a Blade Runner-like existence?

 

[EvilEngineNumberNine]

Greed happened. Pride happened. Fast food happened.

 

[Brett Alex]

Eh, but in the 80's did you expect the internet? Or iPods?
Technology surprises you like that, sometimes the obvious things are unavailable and years away from development, but really cool things you never dreamed of are plentiful.

As to governments being concerned about only money or kids being uneducated, would you really prefer we return to a feudal state? Or even 18th Century monarchies?

Sure, governments aren't perfect now, but what has changed is that individual people matter a lot more than they used to. At least in Westernized countries.

But yes, I still want my jet pack.

EDIT: as for racism and homophobia, you must be kidding. The leaps and bounds forward in social acceptance are staggering. Can you imagine a full scale pogrom [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogrom] taking place today?

 

[Jaythulhu]

Nice to see some responses, but perhaps I didn't quite explain myself enough, as a couple of posters seem to think I'm having a go. Give me an hour or two and I'll see if I can clarify my thoughts a little more.

 

[EnzoHonda]

Every day I read the paper and shake my head. Is there anything that can be done to give humanity a big shove into sustainable and self-aware development, or are we doomed to end up in a Blade Runner-like existence?

At this point I think we'll be lucky if we end up in Blade Runner world.

Anyway, what I think the world needs is an end to oil, gas, and coal. It made the 20th century too easy. Dig a hole and get all the energy you need. Whee. Humanity was able to push too far, too fast. For Crispy's sake, a century ago we were barely flying, now we're close to going to Mars.

 

[Good morning blues]

What happened is that we turned control of technological development entirely over to massive profit-seeking corporations and trusted them to build a better future; they did, but only for themselves.

 

[Anarchemitis]

Greed happened. Pride happened. Fast food happened.

George Bush happened.
Uwe Boll happened.
4Chan happened.

 

[shatnershaman]

The Escapist happened. Thats a pretty sweet invention.

 

[EvilEngineNumberNine]

Greed happened. Pride happened. Fast food happened.

George Bush happened.
Uwe Boll happened.
4Chan happened.

Is it bad that I rate them in ascending order?

 

[Nalbis]

I doubt 4chan has anything to do with the state of the World...

 

[Jaythulhu]

IvoryAgent: No, they'll just blow you up, or stick you in a hole, torture and then behead you. Religious fruitcakery isn't exactly what I was thinking about, however.

I was more bemoaning that during the 80s, people were told that post-2000 would be the pinnacle of human existence, a utopia of science, faith and society. Instead, the world is pretty much a cesspool, divided, inconsistent, hypocritical, self-absorbed and, as far as the eye can see, getting worse.

[Edit] Yes, I'm fully aware this is a generalisation, and that individuals can't be tarred with the same brush, but I'm discussing generalities, not specific people or places.

 

[Bulletinmybrain]

Eh, but in the 80's did you expect the internet? Or iPods?
Technology surprises you like that, sometimes the obvious things are unavailable and years away from development, but really cool things you never dreamed of are plentiful.

As to governments being concerned about only money or kids being uneducated, would you really prefer we return to a feudal state? Or even 18th Century monarchies?

Sure, governments aren't perfect now, but what has changed is that individual people matter a lot more than they used to. At least in Westernized countries.

But yes, I still want my jet pack.

EDIT: as for racism and homophobia, you must be kidding. The leaps and bounds forward in social acceptance are staggering. Can you imagine a full scale pogrom [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogrom] taking place today?

Eh, Not really. We don't even vote for the president. We vote for a panel of people...WHO THEN ELECT THE PRESIDENT. That was shocking today.

 

[CoziestPigeon]

Eh, but in the 80's did you expect the internet? Or iPods?
Technology surprises you like that, sometimes the obvious things are unavailable and years away from development, but really cool things you never dreamed of are plentiful.

Farenheit 451

 

[asinann]

We've had a flying car since the 50's (it's not very practical, you have to take it to the air port and put wings and a tail on a 2 seater car to fly it.)

 

[Jazzyluv]

and you expected different? first off, the world is find, sure we have a lot of dumbasses floating about. But 1, don't blame politicians, blame your friends, your father, your mother, yourself. You were scared for your pocketbooks in the 80s and that is why you cut federal funding for social programs that helped poor and middle class. The education system has always been broken, regardless of time, and special interest groups are still king.

But you have to look at the good, China, India, and lots of other countries lives have improved, increased trade has made massive wars far less likely.

The world is fine, but sure i would like it too improve,

but i can only expect so much from the idiots who say "men and women are equal" yet women don't have to sign up for the draft.

The same idiots who support NAACP supremest racial promotion, if blacks truly are equal, why do they need a holding hand, and why can't whites have access to these same things, why can't a white guy say ****** if he is not in any way racist? while a black guy can say honkies if he is in fact racist.

The women who want equal pay while having 6 health care centers while men have none even though men are 5% more likely to die from a major disease.

While women and children first still exists,

These people that think outsourcing is evil. Are you saying that the people of china don't deserve to get themselves out of utter poverty, thanks assholes.


Before we can advanced we have to get rid of racial pride, sex pride, pride of country, national tribalism. Let people dump all the stupid shit they absorbed from their brainless parents and maybe we would have a better world

 

[Clairaudient]

I too miss 80's music.

 

[Imitation Saccharin]

It's the public's misunderstanding of science.

Science is not some linear path that you can research along specific lines and get results. It's utterly random, and sometimes you lay the foundations for solar panels (Einstien) while other times you just make great contributions to our knowledge that don't have applications yet (Hubble).
The search for truth is not predictable.

 

[LV Solace]

@ Jazzy love yes, you're right.

If people are truly equal and demand that they are treated as such, then you deserve no more assistence programs than your white male counterpart. As long as we still look at people in terms of race, gender, sexuality, income level, appearence, nationality, religion, and things like that, people will always be broken.

Once we can just see people and see well, people, then our problems cease to exist. Once that happens, the world will be a perfect, peaceful, pristine, a true utopia.

Outsourcing is bad because it promotes a foreign economy over our own, to line the pockets of the excessively rich, over the pockets of the people. But yes China has the right to drag itself out of poverty, not have the world police drag it out of poverty.

 

[KenzS]

I sometimes imagine what the world would be like if it were a Utopia.

But thats nearly impossible goal. Every culture would have to assimilate into one dominamt culture. I can't see how we can achieve this peacefully.

 

[defcon 1]

Robot sex slaves? Sounds real nice. I'm sure the Japanese will develop that soon.

The human race will be extinct, but at least it's an awesome way to become extinct.

Anyways, there's a difference between near and distant future.

but hell, I say we came a long way since the Commodore 64.