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Post by Scary Gary on Mar 16, 2010 19:15:19 GMT -5
but granted the cyclists seem to disobey road rules like red lights so probably half their fault... See, this is where we should allow a healthy dose of Darwinism into the mix. Sort of like the Star Wars universe. In six movies, you don't see one single dumb-ass that lingers in one of those automated doorways. If people are too damned stupid that they think they can ignore warning signs, then society may just be better off with them ending up as road kill. |
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Post by lynn on Mar 17, 2010 4:20:44 GMT -5
maybe that's why there's no handrails in the future, as shown in every sci fi movie.
There's your better future Gilbert, lose the handrails, let nature take its course, we'll all be better off for it.
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Post by professordave on Mar 17, 2010 18:05:21 GMT -5
When solar panels become cheaper to install and maintain, a lot of people will want them. I've thought about adding solar panels to my home, but it is expensive compared to possible savings. Also, I live in the Northeast, where its often cloudy, cold and dark for a quarter of the year.
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Post by lynn on Mar 17, 2010 18:20:32 GMT -5
We've got all sorts of rebates going on here at the moment, I'm surprised more people don't do it for the long term gains.
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Post by jessn on Mar 17, 2010 20:31:07 GMT -5
I'm still waiting for monorails and flying cars.  I have a question: Does "fix the future" mean to actually repair the future or does it mean "create a utopia instead of a post-apocalyptic dystopia?" |
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Post by professordave on Mar 17, 2010 22:40:53 GMT -5
I'm still waiting for monorails and flying cars. I have a question: Does "fix the future" mean to actually repair the future or does it mean "create a utopia instead of a post-apocalyptic dystopia?" I think it's the latter, although I grew up in the 80s, so I'm more used to a post-apocalyptic future than a utopian one. Post-apocalyptic futures in the 80s required colored mohawks, spandex, and RayBans, all of which will be outlawed in our Utopian future. |
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Post by lynn on Mar 17, 2010 23:15:38 GMT -5
not the mohawks, god not the mohawkes!
Anyway, I saw the Simpsons, we don't need monorails! We have monorails in Sydney, they're not that exciting... at least, I assume they're not as exciting now as they were when I was little.
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Post by Scary Gary on Mar 18, 2010 6:46:13 GMT -5
On The Skeptics Guide to the Universe this week they said that the "jet pack" is finally here. It is not a real jet, but more like a personal helicopter. Looks cool.
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Post by jessn on Mar 18, 2010 8:22:47 GMT -5
I was a teen in the 80s and understand the whole "post-apocalyptic" mentality. Our generation was raised to expect the world to implode and re-emerge with those mohawks, motorcycles, and anti-heroes with sweet weaponry. This could be why now our society focuses on these sorts of stories in our entertainment.
I've been playing around with this whole idea in my head since Sean, Greg and I talked about this the other night. People my age seem to have this strange mixture of "future-vision" going on inside of us. I am old enough to remember the shiny white future of movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Logan's Run (ok, this is post-apocalyptic, but it still has this shiny edge), and tv shows like Star Trek and Buck Rogers. I am also old enough to have learned that the future would be gritty and frightening ala Mad Max. I want to believe that the future is shiny, but in my heart, I fear that we, as humans, are not capable of any more than a future that is gritty.
What I finally got to was to make a list of things I would love to see in my shiny version of "THE FUTURE" (you have to intone these words to make them really impressive):
1. Computers you can talk to (as in Star Trek). Wouldn't it be great to have a computer that could answer basic questions and complete simple projects? "Computer, identify that creature in my driveway." "Creature identified as your daughter's potential boyfriend." "Computer, raise shields and bring phasers forward."
2. Replicators! I have always thought that a replicator could be quite useful. Have trouble finding clothes that fit? Program your sizes into the replicator along with the fashions you like best and color preferences, and voila! Clothes that fit--ALWAYS! Want a banana split at midnight? Replicator will make it for you!
3. Flying cars. I've wanted a flying car since I was a kid and saw the Jetsons. As a resident of the Atlanta area, these things are especially exciting. No traffic jams, no worries. (Yes, I know that if everyone had them, there would be problems. I'm not naive.)
What I find most interesting is that in a way, we are already living in the future. I can remember messing around with computers in the early 80s and thinking, wouldn't it be fabulous if we could use this to find information and see actual video on these things. I also thought it would be really great if say I was here in Atlanta and I had a friend in Seattle and we could talk like we were right together. Now we have Google, YouTube and Skype.
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Post by ringoosu on Mar 18, 2010 10:19:28 GMT -5
I was a child of the 80s in OKLAHOMA. The Bible belt. So I had a combination of apocalyptic fears. The Soviets blowing us up. The Anti-Christ coming and making us all get the mark of the beast. Our Christian camps combined them all to have counselors playing Soviet minions of the Anti-Christ trying to round up all the believers.
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Post by Gilberto on Mar 18, 2010 10:46:16 GMT -5
Wow. That's like 2012, how everyone is just chunking every apocalypse together and hitching it to that wagon. If we were as good at inventing heroes as we were at building boogeymen the future might not even need fixing.
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Post by jessn on Mar 18, 2010 11:11:32 GMT -5
Ringoosu: I was raise Southern Baptist, and was convinced for a while that the government was going to turn on us all and start rounding up the Christians too! Remember those crazy movies that circulated during that period in the Baptist community? If we were to believe them, we would be rounded up, forcibly branded with the 666 number, and then tortured till renounced our beliefs! I've never understood why this denomination is so bent on focusing on these sorts of messages instead of the basic message of love that Jesus taught.
But I digress...
Centennial: We are a people who are willing to mix any and every belief structure into our apocalyptic nightmares if it insures complete and utter destruction of our world. For some reason, that appeals to us. I totally expect that sooner or later, we will see an apocalyptic film that includes the rising of the Midgard Serpent, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse riding on their steeds through the skies, and all sorts of asundry plagues falling upon us. More than likely all of these things will be alien creatures attacking us.
I wish we could create heroes as well. Unfortunately, we don't really believe in them anymore.
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Post by Gilberto on Mar 18, 2010 16:17:57 GMT -5
I do
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Post by drivebyluna on Mar 18, 2010 16:47:22 GMT -5
What's all this hatin' on mohawks?
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Post by lynn on Mar 18, 2010 16:49:22 GMT -5
I'd watch that movie. As long as it didn't stop every five minutes to convince us of god, you've got plagues and horsemen, it speaks for itself.
I was also raised by a religious parent, and I was convinced when I was a teen than I was never going to see the other end of high school because mum told me the world would end in 2000.
When I think about my generation and our chosen future, we seem to have higher prevalence of personal, not widespread, apocalypses, and that may explain all the torture porn movies. We're more worried about our own selfish selves getting into drama than the world ending.
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