Things you could have never imagined 40 years ago

[MontuckyFried]

Furthermore, I never imagined that the government would admit to UFOs and the general public would just carry on with their lives.

For real!!! I can't believe they did that and the reaction from the people was a resounding... "meh." WTF?! Perhaps smartphones and social media have ruined us. We (as a society) have become numb to the world around us. The 1909 book, "The Machine Stops" by E.M. Forster really did predict to a scary degree what our society would become when our physical needs are all met, and we exist within our own little bubbles. Too bad we're inching closer to that future instead of the futurist visions of Walt Disney I thought we'd have by now.

That said, the level of technology that we can fit into our pockets (sort of) IS pretty mind-blowing. The fact that I can be in a field in the middle of nowhere, use GPS on my phone, and pull up GIS data in real time is bonkers to me. Our access to all sorts of information is unprecedented.

[Dantheman]

For real!!! I can't believe they did that and the reaction from the people was a resounding... "meh." WTF?!

To be fair, they released a few short blurry videos that look pretty unremarkable to the average person. Unless you dig into some long-format interviews with people like Luis Elizondo I can see why most people would say, "Meh." But, most people aren't going to do that. That said, Elizondo seems pretty credible and if even half of what he claims is correct (that the gov't is sitting on piles and piles of 4k video of all manner of absolutely crazy shit) then...whoa.

that our food industry, big pharma, and FDA turned out to be as evil as they are - they all want us sick and to be on meds - billion-dollar industry. in that respect, our country blows.

It never dawned on you that large corporations would seek to maximize their profits?

[Mofro261]

That Keith Richards would still be alive

[dan_pdx]

The demise of Roe v Wade, that housewives would drive monster trucks to the grocery store, that Chinese tourists would be the new ugly Americans, the impact of social media. In the positive column, that a black woman could be a viable presidential candidate.

[MontuckyFried]

That Keith Richards would still be alive

Hahaha. That might be the biggest surprise of all!!! When (if?) that guy ever kicks the bucket, they better study his body for scientific purposes.

[k2skier112]

That so many people would be against vaccines, especially one for a global pandemic

That the interweb would be awesome and soul crushing at the same time

[old goat]

Tattooed grandmas in yoga pants at the supermarket.

KQ said wildest dreams, not wildest nightmares.

A lot of people mentioned getting old. I truly believed I would not make it close to 74. My dad died of his 3rd heart attack at 51, his dad at 45. My younger brother had a heart attack at 35. I celebrated when I made it to 52--the longest lived man on my father's side of the family for 4 generations. And I owe it all to those drugs big pharma is supposedly trying to kill me with. (Including one expensive enough to be advertised on TV.) And also to heart surgery. Also to a few very lucky breaks in the mountains.

[halliday]

That id never ski weekends and holidays because I get enough during the mid week and don't have to deal with the traffic and crowds. And another thing Id never imagined 40 years ago that Id be happy and healthy at 56 with an XXXcellent wife and life partner, and looking towards retirement. Man, time fucking flies.

[cinnepa]

To be fair, they released a few short blurry videos that look pretty unremarkable to the average person. Unless you dig into some long-format interviews with people like Luis Elizondo I can see why most people would say, "Meh." But, most people aren't going to do that. That said, Elizondo seems pretty credible and if even half of what he claims is correct (that the gov't is sitting on piles and piles of 4k video of all manner of absolutely crazy shit) then...whoa.



It never dawned on you that large corporations would seek to maximize their profits?

Yes but doesn't mean I have to like it.

[PB]

The problem with "maximize" is it's rather open-ended.

[Danno]

Stoner [emoji41]

Dude, where's my car?

[Dantheman]

The problem with "maximize" is it's rather open-ended.

Corporations have legal obligations to maximize profits and shareholder value, and no legal obligation to be moral actors. So, like a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.

[garyfromterrace]

40 years ago... I'm 25 believing there's no way I'm making 30. 40, you kidding. 50 ha, ha, shit not remotely possible. Now 64 with 3 natural grandkids and 6 more un naturals (or whatever you call the step kid's kids and the son's step kids) haha. Who knew. Haha hahahahaha. Ha.

[GSinister]

That I would enter a grocery store and hear Edgar Winter’s Frankenstein playing as background music. It happened to me twice this week!

[Doremite]

Modern ski shapes

[GSinister]

Stopped me in my tracks both times!

[rideit]

However, Douglas Adams certainly had the idea with Babblefish. .

[old goat]

Corporations have legal obligations to maximize profits and shareholder value, and no legal obligation to be moral actors. So, like a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.

That's what the lords of private equity would like you to believe.
https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebat...ximize-profits

(That's an old article and I think not paywalled. Somebody tell me if it is and I'll cut and paste it in a different thread.)

[riser4]

I'll start:

The other day as I stood waiting in line for the next bud tender at A Greener Today in my hometown I marveld at the wall of cannabis before me. There were bags of buds, cannisters of joints, tankers of concentrates and candies galore.

Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined in 1984 that one day I would be shopping for cannabis like any other consumer good out of the shadows and fully legal.

This is up there on the list.

[ZomblibulaX]

That Christianity writ large in America would be playing victim and claiming they are being unjustly persecuted whilst simultaneously tearing down the division of church and state and attempting to steer America toward a white Christian ethnostate.

That anyone would still believe that deregulation and tax cuts for corporations would somehow make everyone more prosperous.

That the Supreme Court would be taking constitutional rights away from Americans.

That people would still vote for fucking celebrities.

[MultiVerse]

I was just a kid in the 80s. The 90s are more my jam. So the idea of the Cold War ending and thirty years later motherfuckers in Russia, China and Iran would get the band back together isn't something I imagined. Just playing the greatest hits from the year of our lord 1984 over and over again.

[old goat]

I was just a kid in the 80s. The 90s are more my jam. So the idea of the Cold War ending and thirty years later motherfuckers in Russia, China and Iran would get the band back together isn't something I imagined. Just playing the greatest hits from the year of our lord 1984 over and over again.

Laughing to keep from crying.

[LongShortLong]

A car that runs for 16 years! With no problems or maintenance besides oil and filters. And then when it has problems, there's reams of OBD data I can download to my mini-pocket computer. And thousands of free websites and videos to help educate myself, troubleshoot, and repair.

[Ted Striker]

However, Douglas Adams certainly had the idea with Babblefish. .

As did Gene Roddenberry - though like many things on the OG Star Trek, it was a workaround for not having the budget.

From one of the writers: "We were originally going to have [each crew member] carry a language translator, which would fit on the wrist like a beeper, and no matter what area of the universe they were in, the thoughts that the people were thinking would automatically be translated into English as they spoke."

But they had already blown the budget with communicators, tricorders, and phasers, so they just said everyone speaks English in the future, and when we get called out on it we'll make something up then.

[gravitylover]

I'm still amazed that a deeply self centered, coke fueled, club hopping, narcissistic, NYC playboy turned into such a big deal that he could become the President.