This is a guest post from Ray, one of my loyal readers who wanted the chance to communicate a few of his thoughts! This post was very thought provoking …
If you would like to guest post on The Wisdom Journal, send me a message via my contact form and we’ll talk!
Have you ever thought about all the changes our society has undergone in the last 100 years or so? There have been vast changes in what we use and how we communicate, what we eat and what we wear, how we move and how we handle our health, how we entertain ourselves, how we work, and how we view our world. There are so many words in common use today associated with these changes that a person from 1909 just wouldn’t understand most of what we’re talking about.
- airport
- helicopter
- air traffic controller
- 401(k)
- Roth IRA
- Social Security
- antibiotic
- antibody
- antenna
- windshield
- wiper blades
- computer
- ipod
- ebay
- continental drift
- garden burger
- netizen
- stick shift
- tectonic plates
- velcro
- zipper
- nylon
- plastic
- pooper-scooper
- POTUS
- snail-mail
- spiel
- televangelist
- radio
- television
- robot
- video
- terraform
- virus
- gene
- chromosome
- proton
- neutrino
- neutron
- dark matter
- atomic structure
- quark
- big bang
- atomic bomb
- nuclear energy
- ecosystem
- global warming
- carjacking
- cross trainer
- jumpsuits
- SWAT team
- fingerprints
- step aerobics
- 12-step program
- jet stream
- detox
- shell shock
- shock wave
- spam
- radio wave
- microwave
- tidal wave
- tsunami
- 411
- 911
- AA
- AAA
- ACL
- BFF
- CD
- DHS
- DNA
- DVD
- HIV
- MP3
- MP4
- MRI
- NFL
- SUV
- VHS
- WWW
- Y2K
- whiplash
- wind tunnel
- carpal tunnel
- glass ceiling
- fiber optics
- direct dialing
- land line
- cellular
- instant coffee
- fortune cookie
- bubble gum
- jet engine
- photocopier
- jukebox
- credit card
- black box
- solar cell
- dish antennas
- gorilla
- corneal transplant
- liver transplant
- heart transplant
- liposuction
- c-section
- colonoscopy
- facelift
- tummy-tuck
- transduction
- videophile
- taser
- laser
- acrylic
- penicillin
- amoxycillin
- cortisone
- Prozac
- Internet
- web site
- wi-fi
- worry-wort
- interferon
- nylon
- rayon
- leisure suit
- leotard
- laptop
- laparoscopy
- arthroscopy
- gene therapy
- bipolar
- moonwalk
- spacewalk
- spot welding
- heat-seeking
- sunscreen
- urban legends
- rollover minutes
- e-zine
- e-book
With all the changes we’ve undergone in the last 100 years, is there anything someone could have done in 1909 to alter the direction science and society has taken? Aren’t we in that position right now, with regard to 2109? In 1909 no one could have comprehended the changes we’ve experienced and no one alive today has a clue what life will be like in 2109. Back when I was a kid, the year 2000 seemed so far away. Everyone thought we would all be driving hovercraft and wearing plastic clothes!
The world has changed incredibly in 100 years. It will change vastly more in the next hundred. In 1909 the most common form of transportation was a horse and buggy. There were no airplanes and virtually no cars. Does anyone really believe that 100 years from now we will still be burning fossil fuels and driving around in cars and airplanes? It’s a little preposterous to think so and it won’t be because we’ve run out of fuel; it will be because technology advanced past the need for it.
Who knows what new terms and items people will be using in 2109?
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Loved this post! I’m going to Tweet it right now.
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Ron 's reply:
August 5th, 2009
Thanks Dani! You’re sweet!
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Very thought-provoking, thanks for sharing this! I think we’ll be on beam-pads and zip from place to place. Or, it’ll look like the Jetsons!
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Ron 's reply:
August 5th, 2009
You never know! In 1909, they had no idea we would be on the moon in just 60 years.
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That true – and a very interesting topic – we’ve evolved a lot over the 100 years.
Can you imagine if we traveled back in time and we couldn’t get back? – Those people would probably put us in an insane asylum and probably think we’re witches or something.
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Ron 's reply:
August 5th, 2009
Nah, you’d be labeled a prophet because your predictions would all come true! Can you imagine predicting all the presidents, world war one and two, Pearl Harbor, the Great Depression, Kennedy’s assassination, Watergate, etc, etc
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I guess in 1909 no one would have ever imagined a black president. Not to mention civil rights in general, woman’s rights, being openly gay, war protests and so on. We have a long ways to go, but we have come a long way.
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Ray,
interesting concept. It seems obvious to expect that things will be different, but if you really stop and think HOW different things are (and will be) it is pretty mind-blowing…
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