memes

Realistically speaking I’d rewrite those numbers to 202003 (in accordance to Gregorian calendar)

Are there any particularly good sci-fi novels with wild and imaginative ideas? I love trying to visualize and recreate the scenes in my mind after reading a novel.

But their computers are still the size of a room and everyone smokes

Technology had been advancing at a breakneck pace for over a century. It’s not crazy for them to think that would keep happening.

Old sci-fi be like

We've discovered a technology that explores the fundamental truths of human nature, gaze into the black mirror and reflect upon your modern folly.

...Also all the scientists are straight white men and we invented new ways for our women to cook dinner.

Edit: To be clear, old sci-fi is genuinely great. Merely pointing out the funny juxtaposition of nerdy white guys not fathoming any social change in their generally progressive and thought provoking works.

The industrial and technological revolutions were a cause of radical change in human civilization. It was inspiring to think we would continue to grow instead of monetizing every last vestige of this world and our psyches?!

People are confusing optimism with naiveté. The old sci-fi assumed the rate of progress with be constant or even accelerate. They saw people got to space and moon in what? 20 years? So they thought we will get to Mars by the end of century and beyond our solar system some time after that. They didn't predict the end of Cold War and massive disinvestment from space exploration. But there were plenty of pessimistic takes on the future. In Bladerunner all the animals are dead, in Alien everything is run by evil corporations, in Battlestar Galactica everyone dies, in Star Wars whole worlds are destroyed, apocalyptic visions are common. Getting the dates wrong is not the same as being optimistic.

Meanwhile, Asimov: We'll have robots that will help us accomplish crazy shit but stupid zealots will keep whining about it and holding them back

This is in no way relevant to anything that's happening today.

Dystopias on the other hand, were way too optimistic about how long it would take for everything to turn to shit.

I used to wonder if I would ever walk on the moon or Mars during my lifetime when I was a kid. I miss that

In fairness to the Sci-Fi writers, we've launched so many probes into deep space since then.

We've sent satellites to Jupiter and diving bells below the clouds of Venus. We've retrieved soil from Mars and sent signals from beyond the Ort Cloud. We've recorded Gravity Waves and captured light off the edge of Black Holes and recorded the touch of Neutrinos.

We don't have six guys drinking coffee and staring out a window overlooking the moon of Titan. But that is largely because our signaling and robotics has made automated exploration more practical than manned missions.

And also because SciFi writers of the 1950s didn't understand how much radiation humans would need to shield themselves against once they left the Earth's magnetosphere.

We went from the first flight, to the first spaceflight in 58 years. 8 years after that, we put humans on the moon. I don't think it was unreasonable for scifi writers in the 70s and early 80s to have glorious ideas about what we would accomplish in another 20-30 years.

The year is 2025 And humanity is once again trying to reinvent the wheel

In my teens, the year 2000 was unreal. It embodied THE FUTURE - it was so far away.

Edit: centuries even.

PK Dick: Everything's been nuked and there are feral psychics roaming the wasteland stealing people's emotions.

Naomi Klein wrote about how older sci fi was so optimistic and how she thinks the current trend of depressing dystopian sci fi is bad for society, which was an interesting take I thought.

I watched the first Moon Landing on our neighbors' TV. I was so disappointed because I'd been reading my Dad's and big brother's Asimov Magazines since I was six, and I couldn't believe our real technology was so primitive.

as a kid i was so convinced, near the end of 90s i thought "maybe there are huge advancements made but they're saving it for the year 2000 so it'll be bombastic like people have expected."

instead we got fucking segway lol

Now recontextualize this using modern sci-fi that looks toward multiple centuries from now. Star Trek's egalitarian socialist utopia would never come to pass and the most likely future is that of Frank Herbert's Dune, where nearly 8,000 years from now we have a galactic feudal society where the ultra wealthy fight for control over limited resources while using religion to manipulate the poor into being their cannon fodder.

Lost in space took place in 1999!

They didn’t expect bigotry to basically hold us hostage for 100+ years.

Radiant indeed, but then Chernobyl happened and we got a lot more cautious about nuclear power. Also about trusting other countries. Well, we didn't trust them before but that coverup didn't help.

I saw Back to the Future 2 last night.

Me too. My dream home would be inspired by Forbidden Planet