How's 2011 living up to your expectation?

[infinix]

I don't mean right now, year-to-date. I mean the 21st century as a whole. When you were growing up in the 70's or the 80's, what kind of expectations did you have of the year 2011?

I was born in 78 and basically grew up expecting that we really would have robotic servants, significant presence in space, some kind of semi-permanent moon base, cheap renewable energy, electric cars everywhere, and that much closer to technology utopia. I'm intentionally leaving up the childhood fantasies such as hover vehicles and personal jet-packs.

Still, I am extremely disappointed.

The only robotic servant we have are tiny vacuum/floor cleaners. We are barely in space and we don't have anything on the moon. Nations still fight over oil and fossil fuel is still causing the same environmental impact now as it did 30 years ago. Renewable energy and electric cars are just getting started but still cost prohibitive and less cost effective than the traditional combustion engine.

I'm disillusioned and I hesitate to set any expectations for the year 2041. I'm now quite pessimistic about our future as a species.

You?

*NOTES* Forget the robots. While the information age that we live in is surely wonderful. I feel like as long as we don't figure out a way off of this planet, the human species is heading towards a dead end, quick. This is why I brought up the space colony issue.

 

[Shatnertage]

It could be worse...

 

[infinix]

Yeah, of course it could be worse. We could be living in a Fallout world. But that's not the point. We were presented with a grand vision during our youth and we were told that the world was going to be a much better place.

 

[RAMA]

So far, better than I'd hoped I hope it just gets better and better!

 

[RAMA]

I don't mean right now, year-to-date. I mean the 21st century as a whole. When you were growing up in the 70's or the 80's, what kind of expectations did you have of the year 2011?

I was born in 78 and basically grew up expecting that we really would have robotic servants, significant presence in space, some kind of semi-permanent moon base, cheap renewable energy, electric cars everywhere, and that much closer to technology utopia. I'm intentionally leaving up the childhood fantasies such as hover vehicles and personal jet-packs.

Still, I am extremely disappointed.

The only robotic servant we have are tiny vacuum/floor cleaners. We are barely in space and we don't have anything on the moon. Nations still fight over oil and fossil fuel is still causing the same environmental impact now as it did 30 years ago. Renewable energy and electric cars are just getting started but still cost prohibitive and less cost effective than the traditional combustion engine.

I'm disillusioned and I hesitate to set any expectations for the year 2041. I'm now quite pessimistic about our future as a species.

You?

Nope, I feel quite good about our future...human beings are going through a slow process of democratization...just look at the Eastern Bloc and now the Middle East...oh to us it a slow torturous process, but I believe it will lead to a more worldwide view and government at some point. Terrorism is terrible but will probably just be a small blip in the past to future history.

As far as the old fashioned idea of the future, there was a great deal of discussion in the 90s about where the 21st century would go (modern futurists), and its not about hardware, its about social progress, information age technology, interconnectedness! Its smaller, faster, better, not bigger, bulkier, and slower. I have a more powerful computer in my hand than I did in 1995 on my desktop...its quieter, cooler, and does a LOT more! Robots? There are 4.5 million of them! http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-software/world_robot_population Several of them have even traveled beyond the solar system! There are devices in our cars many times more powerful than the computers/diagnostic systems of the Apollo spacecraft. Who cares if they can't fly?

Even some of the negative issues of our time which look bleak are not unsolvable. At LEAST we are TALKING about global warming, pollution, and overpopulation on a more serious scale. Being "green" is actually "in"! Enzymes can solve certain biological catastrophes, nanotechnology can make what we have now more efficient and will lead to things that will prob make flying cars look like child's play. The dismal state of of our energy resources and resulting pollution from it's use starting to slowly change to a search for renewable energy. I have a friend in the solar energy business! The government is stimulating its growth! Yeah they used to pay lip service to it, NOW they are doing it! I am afraid a disaster/lack of resources or high prices may cause a temporary depression, but if everyone one works at the pace we are now, energy cells, solar, wind power will help alleviate the problems. Disaster predictions often do not take into a account new information...while it doesnt seem likely in the near future, true fusion power is also a possibility.

Its 8 years till Blade Runner's 2019, does Earth look anything like that? I'm not saying its going to be a utopia, just that instead of feeling negative, there are always multiple possibilites about the future, neither the dystopia or utopia is ever going to be 100% correct.

Yeah, of course it could be worse. We could be living in a Fallout world. But that's not the point. We were presented with a grand vision during our youth and we were told that the world was going to be a much better place.

You bought into the hype...but really now, would you rather be living at the beginning of THIS century or last? Solving old problems usually leads to new ones, but its a learning process. For all intents and purposes its a better world than 1911, or for that matter, 1945...or even 1989(Berlin Wall, unofficial end of cold war, etc)!

It also occurs to me the slow deterioration of religious influence is a good thing as well. Almost half the planet is non-theist(check your almanacs people)...the largest percentage in history!!

RAMA

 

[Myasishchev]

Its 8 years till Blade Runner's 2019, does Earth look anything like that?

No. There are zero Darryl Hannah sexbots on the market.

The 21st century is okay. Better than any century so far, I suppose.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I'd say it's still too early to tell. I usually look at these questions around the half-point mark of the year.

 

[Holdfast]

The world's rarely been a better place, and it's still moving in a good direction. You just have to look at things broadly rather than get caught up in the nitty-gritty of a single country, group or moment in time. Enjoy the progress; it's all around us.

 

[RAMA]

Its 8 years till Blade Runner's 2019, does Earth look anything like that?

No. There are zero Darryl Hannah sexbots on the market.

Almost..

http://www.sexbots.us/introduction.html

http://health.discovery.com/videos/sex-robot-sex-robot.html

 

[WillsBabe]

It's a lot noisier than I expected - you know, washing machines; microwave ovens; mobile phones; computers beeping and ringing etc almost constantly is just something that I don't think we envisaged back in ye olden days.

 

[Timby]

From a personal standpoint, on March 2, 2011, I'm doing far better than I was on March 2, 2010. I'm employed, my marriage is stronger than it's been in a long time, I have serenity and I really love living in Madison, Wis.

There are challenges, of course, the foremost of which right now is the war on public employees that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is waging right now. (I'm posting this from my phone as I stand outside the State Capitol.) I've been passed over for two promotions in the past two months, which keeps me employed only part-time. (Though, to be fair, the people who got the positions were far more qualified than I.) It sucks being in a two-income household with a net income of less than $34,000.

But all in all, I take on life a day at a time, and I wake up each morning with a smile and the knowledge that I'll get through today intact, with tomorrow a mystery yet to be revealed.

 

[infinix]

Indeed I bought into the hype of the 70's and the 80's. I'm not saying the the current world is objectively bad. But what we have does not compare to what was promised.

There is definitely value in the fact that we live in the information age. However, for all the benefits of the information age, it hasn't helped what really troubles us as a species much at all.

The troubles I refer to are the wars, the famines, the extinction of species, the deforestation, the desertification, the over population, the ever dwindling natural resources, etc.

The solutions to these problems require our species to actually mature and actually gain wisdom with our intelligence. A part of the hype I bought into was that as we actually begin to venture into space and establish colonies, as we move beyond the confines of our origin, we as a species can finally shed the problems that have held us back in the past 4 millennium.

I might be going off topic in my own topic, but my assertion is that if we can't figure out a way off of this planet, our species is doomed. *I will modify my original post*

 

[Zulu Romeo]

2011 is like 2010, but one louder.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

There aren't any flying cars...

 

[EnsignAmy]

Video games are even better than I imagined they'd be ...

 

[Finn]

I was a kid in the 80s, and a teenager of the 90s.

Well, I have been an adult for only a few years (I don't think one is truly an adult until 24 or 25). But I can't say that I'm disappoinated that the world isn't the way I imagined when I was eight. I had a lot of imagination, and there were a lot of things I didn't understand. If my 24 year old self travelled 7 years into the future, to 2011. I won't be really surprised. I expected more flat screens all over the place and more intense internet use.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

There are zero Darryl Hannah sexbots on the market.

 

[RAMA]

Indeed I bought into the hype of the 70's and the 80's. I'm not saying the the current world is objectively bad. But what we have does not compare to what was promised.

There is definitely value in the fact that we live in the information age. However, for all the benefits of the information age, it hasn't helped what really troubles us as a species much at all.

The troubles I refer to are the wars, the famines, the extinction of species, the deforestation, the desertification, the over population, the ever dwindling natural resources, etc.

The solutions to these problems require our species to actually mature and actually gain wisdom with our intelligence. A part of the hype I bought into was that as we actually begin to venture into space and establish colonies, as we move beyond the confines of our origin, we as a species can finally shed the problems that have held us back in the past 4 millennium.

I might be going off topic in my own topic, but my assertion is that if we can't figure out a way off of this planet, our species is doomed. *I will modify my original post*

Actually the "info age" is credited with supporting the (so far) successful revolution in Egypt. Much of the information about deforestation was posted on 24 hr news channels and websites. Even in Vietnam, the disatisfaction for the war was fomented by nearly unedited news shows of combat. The more people communicate about a green world, and share their cause, the more there is a groundswell of support for it. Information is power.

I don't believe going into space will solve most social problems, but it will probably solve resource and space problems which may have a secondary effect. Space tourism might seem silly now...but easy and cheaper access into space may inspire others to create a more real drive into space at some point...commerce will lead the way. Know anywhere you can borrow $200,000? You can spend 4 minutes up there.

RAMA

 

[Lookingglassman]

I was hoping to have a flying car by now.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

2011 is like 2010, but one louder.

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