2012 - AIDS deaths in millions
1982 - AIDS deaths in hundreds
Large nuclear power plants have net capacities of 500-1000 mW, so 1.21 gW still seems pretty impressive to me. It’s 1-2 x the power an entire nuclear plant can produce.
Also I’m not clear what it has to do with storage capacity.
I think the question isnt rationality so much as creativity. I know when I was a little boy I imagined games similar to those that exist today being possible. I dont play video games but I’m certain little Fuzzy Dunlop fantasized about games as elaborate and visually attractive as Skyrim, for instance. Rationality had nothing to do with it because it was beyond me to understand how existing games and game systems were created or what would go into reaching a point where Skyrim is possible.
I think it would be incredibly exciting but not really surprising or astonishing.
I think it was still being called GRID back then.
There’s a good chance Marty would get asked, “Dude, why are you so fat?” a lot.
Autotune?
Have Marty be gay. That opens a whole window on social changes.
True, but Doc Brown would’ve certainly been one of the people that did.
That’s the big social change I can see; the acceptance of gay people, even married ones. Perhaps he might meet two men and assume that they are a couple or even married, and be completely unfazed by that (while they, of course, are horrified at the thought).
For music, I think if he busted out a modern-day rap people would be completely flabbergasted. I realize rap was around, but not widely in 1982, and certainly not like it is today.
Yeah, nowadays popular music is hip-hop, not esoterica like dubstep or death metal.
Remember, 2012 Marty Jr is going to be into music that 2012 teenagers are into, not the esoteric hipster stuff that you’re into.
I remember back in the 80s when rap/hip-hop was utterly weird and unlistenable, like from another planet. So in the 1982 big dance, Marty Jr busts out some old-school rap that’s an old classic to him, and the kids have never heard anything like it: Obama Damn it feels good to be a gangsta - YouTube
Different strokes and folks, but learning the words to all of Rapper’s Delight was a big thing in our school in 1979-80… and I went to White-Flight Suburban Elementary in Atlanta, GA.
I don’t get why this would be a challenge. Marty’s mind is not going to be blown by the concept of a white president – he would have been well aware when Obama was elected that he was the US’s first black president – and I don’t think many people in 1982 would be surprised that the US would someday elect a black president. Obama’s name would probably be more surprising than his race.
I do think 1982 Doc would be astonished to learn that Conan the Barbarian had been elected governor of California, though.
I don’t think Marty would even notice this difference unless he was, as alphaboi867 suggested, gay himself. Same-sex marriage is still illegal in most US states and is not recognized at the federal level, so odds are Marty has never even met a legally married same-sex couple. It’s perfectly plausible that a 2012 American teen from a smallish town would not personally know any out gay people at all. Marty would be familiar with a number of out gay celebrities, but I don’t think a straight teenage boy would notice the lack of such if transported back to 1982 – especially not since plenty of guys on MTV at the time would probably look flamboyantly gay to him.
I can, however, easily imagine one of Marty’s 1982 classmates being astonished to learn from him that Freddie Mercury of Queen is gay…with Marty being equally surprised that this was surprising.
This would be my vote as well for the type of currently popular music most likely to seem “different” to early '80s teens.
Within five minutes of arriving in 1982 Marty breaks into a cold sweat as he realizes how many Facebook and Twitter updates he’s probably missing out on.
Ditto Rob Halford of Judas Priest. Or actors Rock Hudson, Raymond Burr, etc.
For music, he would have to somehow introduce them to the “wonders” of autotune.
Perhaps Marty might be the son of a same-sex couple and casually mention his fathers or mothers? Sort of like how in the original he casually mentioned owning multiple TVs to Lorraine’s family.
Any mention of O.J. Simpson would provide a pretty good contrast between 2012 and 1982.
Good call.
That reminds me of that line from Hot Tub Time Machine, “What color is Michael Jackson?” Of course it was funnier when he was still alive.
That could be even more interesting that if Marty were gay himself. Marty has two mothers, somehow interupts their meeting, ends up having one get a crush on him, and he must somehow get them together so he doesn’t fade out of existence. Oh, and at the one with the crush on him doesn’t realize she’s a lesbian. It’s comedy gold.
Re Barack Obama; he’s just a random college student in 1982, not famout like Reagen was in 1955. His name might surprise most people, but they’d just assume it was Irish, not Kenyan.
I think you’re right that Doc would assume this was Irish (“O’Bama”) or maybe Japanese – were people already worried that the Japanese were eventually going to own everything in 1982? – but “Barack” is a different story. If Doc didn’t recognize it as being Arabic, he’d probably think it sounded like some made-up sci-fi name.