100 Years Ago in America

definitely belongs in the grey area.

reply to post by Shuye


And I'd bet the stress level and suicide rate was way down back then..

I wouldn't mind If I had of been born back then..
Fish in the stream and fresh air all around.
You wouldn't miss what hadn't been invented yet.

There are TWO ways I see humanity's technological progression going in the near future:

Scenario One--The human race continues to develop technologically at seemingly exponential rates. Extremely important, fundamental insights into the nature of physics leads to a new renaissance in other fields and society at large. (I like this view because it is more hopeful)

Scenario Two--The human race will continue make great strides in computational science leading to faster and faster computers into the conceivable future, but then advancements in the hard sciences (and ergo our technology) will quickly bottleneck...leaving us locked here on Earth until we kill ourselves, or the universe puts us out of our misery.

reply to post by Shuye

Not sure of sources, but seems somewhat correct.


I actually think that in another 100 years we won't go so far socially nor politically. There will be some new politics or social norm, but overall, same life, new technology. Life itself, as a schedule and method, hasn't changed much in those 100 years, and probably won't in the next 100. I imagine hologram rooms will be a normal part of the house, and perhaps robot servants. I imagine we will have warp technology to get to other stars by the end of this century, and we'll probably be on at least a dozen worlds, but it will be highly controlled, as free-flow of space traffic would invalidate government and make it obsolete (any hatred of government, you just go find your own planet.)

In 100 years from now, I believe (assuming nothing horrible happens to humanity):

1- The entire globe will consist of only one country, one people, one language, no money, crime, or religion.

2- Humans will be immortal and disease is going to be a thing of the past. If you have a horrible accident (which shouldn't be possible), you can totally and completely restore your body just as you do with windows system restore.

3- The number of people on the planet will be a very well known and public number.

4- Every resource on the planet will be recognized and consumed efficiently and is constantly correlated with the number of people on the planet which cannot exceed a certain number, that number is solely based on available resources. As a result, people won't be allowed to reproduce unless they have a license.

5- There's a good chance that people will not be interested in parenting anymore and introducing new people to the planet will be done by the government, where children are offered the best known ways to be raised. Those children will exist and be raised for a reason, not just for the f*ck of it as we do now. Like needing more people to improve and advance science.

6- People will be able to choose their own appearance and change it whenever they want.

7- Life is going to be all about achievements and advancing humanity. There will be no place for useless people.

8- We may be able to regenerate the past and watch it and learn stuff we didn't think imaginable.

9- We will conquer space and inhabit other planets and we may contact extra-terrestrial civilizations who may or may not boost our scientific advancement to a whole new level.

10- Most of the work done by humans today will be completely done by robots. Humans will only think, and the robots do the dirty work.

11- Animals will all be preserved and treated humanely. Hunting and eating animals will completely stop and people will find an alternative that will make eating only for joy. Food will no longer be necessary to survive. You will take a pill that will automatically release your daily nutrition for days, maybe months or years.

13- There will be real life simulations that work exactly like The Matrix where people can practice stuff, entertain themselves, educate themselves, without risking their lives.

14- We will have control of some, if not all of the unpredictable catastrophes like tsunamis, volcanoes, storms, earthquakes, and stuff coming from outer space; which will make our distinction almost impossible.

15- People will still be controlled by a small elite. Yeah, this one will never change.

reply to post by Shuye


Pros and cons, same as now I would say. I appreciate modern medicine, especially the safer conditions for labor and delivery. Life expectancy is better now, like that as well. Fewer murders are most likely due to a smaller population and travel and communication is so much faster now....I don't know, I guess there are trade-offs and the perfect world hasn't existed yet nor does it now. Maybe in the future for our kids and grandkids. We can hope.

makes the occupy protesters look really stupid doesn;t it.

You should check out the changes in public health over the past 100 years. Heart disease was almost non existent until we were told to increase our carb intake and get rid of fats.

The Big Fat Fiasco

Just another example of how government has no interest in evidence based recommendations

Number 11, the human tract was original designed to process bulk plant food, a pill wont keep the process moving, leading to intestinal complications, and possibly death.

reply to post by TheAlmo


Wow, so you believe it will be a utopian paradise? Ok, I'm more of the idea that 100 years from now the elite will live in walled citidels while everyone else scrabbles out a meager existance in the radioactive wastelands that exist between the citidels.

reply to post by Shuye


10mph speed limit...yeah I doubt it. Back in the day they didn't have speeding limits.

reply to post by TheAlmo


Someone will always want to be in charge. Wars will never stop as long as there are two people to fight. Technology can't breed out human nature. Everyone wants peace, people fight over who gets to be in charge of it.

In 100 years, GMO's, pesticides, and pollution will have put us back 200 years. Fewer resources will cause death and war to accelerate until the population can no longer support our technological superstructure (roads, enery systems, food and medicine production.)
GMO foods will make us all sick, spread world wide, and kill off most of our good pollinators. Damage to humans and the environment will be sever.
Radiation will have spread around the world, damage to chromosomes will cause illnesses that can't be managed successfully.
All water will need to processed before consumption. Many additives will have been found to be deleterious for humans. Too bad, so sad.
Science won't save us. Good luck to the grandkids...you're going to need it.

veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year

What? Vets made more than dentist and doctors? There were vets a 100 years ago?

I guess it could be because vets back then were basically the mechanics of yesteryear. Get your horse a tune up and all that.

I wonder what the world would be like if we implemented over the counter heroin nowadays?

One hundred years ago, "entitlement" was a very bad word.

reply to post by Mcupobob


Animals were important to the economy. You needed them so you took good care of them. People were a lot better at taking care of themselves. They had home remedies that worked very well. My dad cured lots of things with epsom salts and camphor. My family seldom needed the doctor, but my dog had a tumor we had removed. He was a great dog. One day he caught a pheasant in mid air, then just dropped it and we ate for dinner.

Things I remember in my lifetime.

Our family building/installing indoor bathroom.
Getting our first bathtub.
Converting the coal furnace to a gas furnace.
Waiting in line with an entire community for a polio vaccine.
Doctors made house calls.
Milk was delivered every weekday by the milk man.
Everyone had a burn barrel so normal household waste could be burned in your back yard, the garbage man emptied your burn barrel ashes.
I remember when we had to go to the post office to get our mail.
Do remember 'duck and cover' drills in elementary school.
We had real metal toys that moved and shot projectiles.
M-80's and Cherry Bombs could damage a closed garbage can.
You could make 'Polish Cannons' from 'steel' pop cans to fire tennis balls with normal the Zippo lighter fluid formula till the early 70's.
FM radio began to broadcast in stereo.
Cable TV came out.

Though we always had a phone, car, refrigerator, and TV, and satellites were already in orbit by the time I was born 53 years ago.