Saturday, April 18, 2015
Sadly, yet accurately, still no flying cars
Tell me, does any of this sound familiar?
(1) Random acts of violence by crazy individuals, often taking place at schools …
(2) The other major source of instability and violence comes from terrorists, who are now a major threat to U.S. interests, and even manage to attack buildings within the United States.
(3) Prices have increased sixfold between 1960 and 2010 because of inflation. …
(4) The most powerful U.S. rival is no longer the Soviet Union, but China. However, much of the competition between the U.S. and Asia is played out in economics, trade, and technology instead of overt warfare.
(5) Europeans have formed a union of nations to improve their economic prospects and influence on world affairs. In international issues, Britain tends to side with the U.S., but other countries in Europe are often critical of U.S. initiatives.
(6) Africa still trails far behind the rest of the world in economic development, and Israel remains the epicenter of tensions in the Middle East.
(7) Although some people still get married, many in the younger generation now prefer short-term hookups without long-term commitment.
(8) Gay and bisexual lifestyles have gone mainstream, and pharmaceuticals to improve sexual performance are widely used (and even advertised in the media).
(9) Many decades of affirmative action have brought blacks into positions of power, but racial tensions still simmer throughout society.
(10) Motor vehicles increasingly run on electric fuel cells. …
(11) Yet Detroit has not prospered, and is almost a ghost town because of all the shuttered factories. However. a new kind of music … has sprung up in the city.
(12) TV news channels have now gone global via satellite.
(13) TiVo-type systems allow people to view TV programs according to their own schedule.
(14) Inflight entertainment systems on planes now include video programs and news accessible on individual screens at each seat.
(15) People rely on avatars to represent themselves on video screens …
(16) Computer documents are generated with laser printers.
(17) A social and political backlash has marginalized tobacco, but marijuana has been decriminalized.
Oh, and let's not forget President Obomi.
Wait—what?
What you read was eighteen predictions (link via Hacker News) made by John Brunner is his 1969 novel Stand on Zanzibar. It's an incredible list, scarily accurate in its portrayal of life in 2010. I never read that book, but I did read Shockwave Rider that predicted a global network besieged with malware and The Sheep Look Up, a book about global environmental collapse that was the single most scary book I've ever read (that I try not to think about too much least I start having nightmares again). Both of those were very good (even if The Sheep Look Up is too horrifying to think about), so I would think Stand on Zanzibar would be great as well.
