Researching About the Future

Today's assignment: 

Work with a partner to do Research and write about what you learn on your blog, with links and pictures.  The topic is both “academic” and “popular culture” – so a variety of sites will be useful and appropriate for you: 

What predictions about the future were people making 100 years ago? 50 years ago?  (Find 3-4 articles or discussions to look over.)

• portable phones 
• television 
• digital photography 
• more efficient food production
• no more use of x, c, or q 
• people will be taller 
• flying cars
• underwater boats 
• fly to the moon (regularly) 

Determine if the list is a “wish list” – as in, these are the things one might hope for in the future, or more a warning.

• I feel that a majority of the lists were "wish lists". This is because a lot of the things mentioned were starting to become a thing however most people either couldn't afford it or it wasn't available to the public yet.

Which predictions seem to have come true? Which turned out to be bizarre, off-track, or still out of reach?

• almost all of the predictions came true
• bizarre/off-track/out of reach...
• everyone will walk a certain amount of miles a day
• we will have flying cars 
• certain letters in the alphabet will no longer be used 

Can you identify any trends or patterns in these predictions? What concerns or achievements do they seem focused on?  For example, do people in general seem to be anticipating a better world?

• people expecting a better world 
• hoping for higher efficiency 
• a lot to do with technology 
• most happened shortly there after 

It is your turn to predict a future world.  What do you see?

• cure for cancer
• better treatment for illness and disease
• better education system 
• more laziness 
• more technology
• less face to face interaction 

How much control over the future do we actually have? As individuals? As groups? The government? 

• very little 
• we can try and prevent war 
• we can try and offer jobs to people
• we can do research 
• but at the end of the day there are so many other factors its hard 

Resources:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-world-will-be-wonderful-in-the-year-2000-110060404/?no-ist

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16444966 

lhttp://www.openculture.com/2013/12/ladies-home-journal-publishes-28-predictions.html

http://mentalfloss.com/article/57835/12-predictions-year-2000-19th-century-german-chocolate-company

http://www.openculture.com/2013/08/isaac-asimovs-1964-predictions-about-2014.html

http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/france-in-the-year-2000-1899-1910/  

http://www.openculture.com/2013/09/robert-heinlein-imagines-the-year-2000.html