Future Predictions in 1964 by Noble Prize winners that were way way off
You're late for work because you forgot to set the alarm clock embedded in your forearm. Rushing out of bed, you give your family members, located thousands of miles away, a quick virtual hug, and hop into the car -- ordering your ape chauffeur to step on it. It's a stressful day, sure, but at least your vacation to the Moon is just a few days away.
That may not sound like a typical morning, but people thought it could have been.
History is littered with predictions and future projections. Many of these are given with supreme confidence, before they fade conveniently into insignificance as they whiz wide of the mark.
But as we charge into the third decade of the 21st century, it's time to ask: Where did we think we'd be in 2020?
Experts' predictions from 1964
Here's a selection of predictions made in a 1964 report by the RAND Corporation, which put questions to 82 experts and Noble prize winning scientists across various fields, and the earliest year they thought each could be achievable.
1980: Robots as household servants.
1980: Manned landing on Mars.
1995: Human lives artificially extended by 50 years.
1995: Automated voting.
1998: Directly recording information to the brain.
1999: A military force on the moon.
2000: Two-way communication with extra-terrestrials.
2015: Long-duration coma to allow a form of time travel.
2020: Breeding of apes and other animals for menial work.
My favorite claim is the 2020 claim that by 2020 we'd have bred animals, including apes, to carry out daily chores in the home.
The claims were certainly taken seriously. Three years later, the Nobel Prize-winning chemist Glenn T. Seaborg commented on its findings in a speech to the Woman's National Democratic Club in Washington, DC.
"During the 21st century, those houses that don't have a robot in the broom closet could have a live-in ape to do the cleaning and gardening chores," he said. "Also, the use of well-trained apes as family chauffeurs might decrease the number of automobile accidents."
Wish this would have happened. I got some dishes I need done. A live in ape to do them would be so nice! lol
Thoughts?
You're late for work because you forgot to set the alarm clock embedded in your forearm. Rushing out of bed, you give your family members, located thousands of miles away, a quick virtual hug, and hop into the car -- ordering your ape chauffeur to step on it. It's a stressful day, sure, but at least your vacation to the Moon is just a few days away.
That may not sound like a typical morning, but people thought it could have been.
History is littered with predictions and future projections. Many of these are given with supreme confidence, before they fade conveniently into insignificance as they whiz wide of the mark.
But as we charge into the third decade of the 21st century, it's time to ask: Where did we think we'd be in 2020?
Experts' predictions from 1964
Here's a selection of predictions made in a 1964 report by the RAND Corporation, which put questions to 82 experts and Noble prize winning scientists across various fields, and the earliest year they thought each could be achievable.
1980: Robots as household servants.
1980: Manned landing on Mars.
1995: Human lives artificially extended by 50 years.
1995: Automated voting.
1998: Directly recording information to the brain.
1999: A military force on the moon.
2000: Two-way communication with extra-terrestrials.
2015: Long-duration coma to allow a form of time travel.
2020: Breeding of apes and other animals for menial work.
My favorite claim is the 2020 claim that by 2020 we'd have bred animals, including apes, to carry out daily chores in the home.
The claims were certainly taken seriously. Three years later, the Nobel Prize-winning chemist Glenn T. Seaborg commented on its findings in a speech to the Woman's National Democratic Club in Washington, DC.
"During the 21st century, those houses that don't have a robot in the broom closet could have a live-in ape to do the cleaning and gardening chores," he said. "Also, the use of well-trained apes as family chauffeurs might decrease the number of automobile accidents."
Wish this would have happened. I got some dishes I need done. A live in ape to do them would be so nice! lol
Thoughts?