# Can we move on to a new "age" please? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 26, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316 "2006-05-26T14:49:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/21 "2006-05-26T17:39:04Z")
[QUOTE=Priceguy] Each age is shorter than the preceding one. In the future, we will wake up in one age, have lunch in another and go to bed in a third. [/QUOTE] Progress! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/22 "2006-05-26T17:56:11Z")
> [@](#): > > (In the same vein, can we move away from post-modernism in art?) Post-modernism, by definition, hasn’t happened yet. And those foam matresses really are space-age: They’re based on the technology NASA uses in acceleration couches. So that one, at least, is excusable. But I don’t think that NASA ever used space-age knives nor cutlery (nor even, probably, the alloys they’re made of), so those are still fair targets. **davenportavenger** , would it make you more comfortable if we just called everything from now on “Future Tech”? ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/23 "2006-05-26T18:29:11Z")
[QUOTE=davenportavenger] I know this is kind of a joke thread, but it seems that 50 years is not too long a time to be in an age. [/quote] Oh yeah? Then explain Dick Clark. Nobody born during the Great Depression should still be a teenager! > [@Chronos](#): > > Post-modernism, by definition, hasn’t happened yet. - **Wittgenstein** smacks you in the face with a trout. > [@Chronos](#): > > And those foam matresses really are space-age: They’re based on the technology NASA uses in acceleration couches. Well couldn’t they at least use more interesting hyperbole? _Scientifically engineered_ for example. The cool kids like it and it’s still perfectly meaningless. ---
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/24 "2006-05-26T18:34:55Z")
Hmmm…good points all around, “space age” is getting a little long in the tooth. Problem, though, is that it’s so handy and can be used universally to mean “advanced”. Phrases like “digital age”, “nuclear age”, “information age”, etc. are too specific to be used generically. For example, referring to something as being constructed of “space age materials” or using "space age technology"sounds good, as does “digital age technology”. Problem, though, with something like “digital age materials”; sounds dumb, no? Agree with the OP, but “space age” is what we’re stuck with until a handy new universal phrase pops up. What’s been suggested ain’t gonna cut it. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/25 "2006-05-26T18:42:30Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] Well, apparently marketing didn’t get the memo, because the aforementioned space-age memory foam? That’s a current ad. [/QUOTE] Well, unless the mattress has WiFi, you can hardly claim it’s _digital age_ mattress technology. Although I hear those Sleep Number people are doing pretty well for themselves with quantum mattresses. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/26 "2006-05-26T19:03:58Z")
How about the “Garb Age”? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/27 "2006-05-26T20:30:22Z")
[QUOTE=Fromage A Trois] I thought that too - obviously we’re not in the Information Age, or we’d both have known. Perhaps we’re in the _Mis_information Age? [/QUOTE] I prefer to think of it as the Post-Information Age, or perhaps the Post-Reality Age. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/28 "2006-05-26T22:40:28Z")
[QUOTE=Malienation] Agree with the OP, but “space age” is what we’re stuck with until a handy new universal phrase pops up. What’s been suggested ain’t gonna cut it. [/QUOTE] Granted, but there must be _some_ other buzzphrase they can latch on to. _Space-age_ went the way of _nifty_ and _radical_ – overused, dated, meaningless things that have become parodies of themselves. The Space Age came in with the Apollo project, reached its zenith with Apollo 11, and died on-board Challenger. Me, I can’t possibly say that _anything_ is _space-age_ without a heavy note of irony. > [@iamthewalrus(:3=](#): > > I hear those Sleep Number people are doing pretty well for themselves with quantum mattresses. Quantum mattress? Is that the one that lets you sleep in every room in the house simultaneously? That would be _so_ cool… > [@Trunk](#): > > How about the “Garb Age”? You know, this would work for just about every _space-age_ product… ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/29 "2006-05-26T22:48:12Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] Quantum mattress? Is that the one that lets you sleep in every room in the house simultaneously? That would be _so_ cool… [/QUOTE] Cool, yes. But it would only work as long you didn’t observe yourself… ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2006, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/30 "2006-05-27T00:09:27Z")
What happened to the Jet Age? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2006, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/31 "2006-05-27T01:38:52Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] Quantum mattress? Is that the one that lets you sleep in every room in the house simultaneously? That would be _so_ cool… [/QUOTE] No, it’s the one that lets you sleep in and still go to work on time, simultaneously. You just can’t let your wife know you’re at work or your boss know you’re sleeping at home or the whole waveform collapses and you end up sleeping with your boss, which, for some people, may be very, very nice, but for most, I imagine, would not be a pretty thing at all… ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2006, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/32 "2006-05-27T01:51:35Z")
We can’t be in the Digital Age yet, we don’t have any cyborgs. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2006, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/33 "2006-05-27T02:03:53Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] No, it’s the one that lets you sleep in and still go to work on time, simultaneously. You just can’t let your wife know you’re at work or your boss know you’re sleeping at home or the whole waveform collapses and you end up sleeping with your boss, which, for some people, may be very, very nice, but for most, I imagine, would not be a pretty thing at all… [/QUOTE] Aw, man. My boss is a balding German fellow. I think the risks here outweigh the rewards by a factor of about a thousand convulsive therapy sessions. Another potentially great idea down _die raum-alter Scheißebohrung_. > [@Muad'Dib](#): > > What happened to the Jet Age? Remember _Airport '79?_ Yeah. It was like that. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2006, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/34 "2006-05-27T03:39:29Z")
With the population getting more elderly, clearly… This is the “Age Age.” ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2006, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/35 "2006-05-27T03:43:41Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius… Sorry. Feel free to shoot me now. (In the same vein, can we move away from post-modernism in art?) [/QUOTE] Do we get to go to post-post-modernism? I bet you’ve looooove that. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2006, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/36 "2006-05-27T03:53:08Z")
[QUOTE=Priceguy] Each age is shorter than the preceding one. In the future, we will wake up in one age, have lunch in another and go to bed in a third. [/QUOTE] We ever gonna go back an age if it progresses so quickly? I mean, if we find something new and nifty that’s never been done in the Stone Age, does that mean we go back? Is that what they mean by “repeating history”? (insert Seinfeld voice) And what’s the deal with the Space Age? It’s always the Space Age! I mean, I see space all around me right now. Why did we have to wait for a certain time to acknowledge it? Have you seen space? I mean, have you SEEN it? How old is Space? Is thqat what we’re figuring out in this entire age? Can’t we just cut Space in half and count the rings? ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2006, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/37 "2006-05-27T03:54:11Z")
[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever] Do we get to go to post-post-modernism? I bet you’ve looooove that. [/QUOTE] Sorry. \*Verbal diarrahea. Bad Trevor. \*band name! ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/38 "2006-05-27T03:56:18Z")
[QUOTE=Johanna] With the population getting more elderly, clearly… This is the “Age Age.” [/QUOTE] So it’s the “Age Squared”? Four posts in a row, baby. I’ve tied my previous record. Seriously, if we kept records on this shit, I’d own it. That’s right baby, OWN it! ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2006, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/39 "2006-05-27T03:57:43Z")
Hmm, in **Futurama** our time was referred to at least once as The Stupid Age. Or was it age_s_? ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2006, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316/40 "2006-05-27T04:31:10Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius… [/QUOTE] Wow, it’s the 27th century already? Time just flew by. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-move-on-to-a-new-age-please/358316.md?page=3)