# Experiments that failed in the late 60s **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 5, 2005, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511 "2005-05-05T09:42:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/21 "2005-05-05T23:09:15Z")
Nuclear power stations (are they building these anymore?) ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/22 "2005-05-05T23:30:21Z")
1. INTERFERON: this stuff was supposed to cure cancer, TB, a host of other illnesses, and put a shine on your mother’s silverware! Problem: it didn’t work! Not only that , but people taking it experienced severe side effects (including death). But it was touted to the skies…for a while! 2. Catastrophe Theory: supposedly this was the mathematics discovey of the century. Only it had no applications that worked! ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/23 "2005-05-06T01:28:22Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > LSD as a theraputic drug Or as a weapon/mind control device, for that matter. [Hardiman I](http://davidszondy.com/future/robot/hardiman.htm) [The American SST](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_2707). (Could have made the Concorde look like a pansy.) ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/24 "2005-05-06T01:43:27Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#): > > There were lots of bizarre things going on in the late 60s. Can anyone remember things people did back then that just kind of fizzled out? War on Drugs 😕 ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/25 "2005-05-06T02:26:42Z")
I don’t think that war was officially declared until the Carter era. Before that time, we were just giving them something to fight over. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/26 "2005-05-06T02:33:32Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > [Hardiman I](http://davidszondy.com/future/robot/hardiman.htm) Hey, it’s Robocop’s grandpa! ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/27 "2005-05-06T03:05:28Z")
I have no first-hand experience with push-button transmissions, but when I’ve read about them, I always worried that they’d be easy to accidentally bump and shift into reverse or park when going 60. Was this the case? Or was the design good enough to protect against this? If the former, I would reckon this is why they didn’t catch on. ---
**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 6, 2005, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/28 "2005-05-06T03:12:27Z")
> [@](#): > > 1. INTERFERON: this stuff was supposed to cure cancer, TB, a host of other illnesses, and put a shine on your mother’s silverware! Problem: it didn’t work! Not only that , but people taking it experienced severe side effects (including death). But it was touted to the skies…for a while! Isn’t interferon still used, as part of the drug cocktail used to treat AIDS? Not a panacaea, to be sure, and like any drug, it needs to be used properly, but treating AIDS doesn’t sound like a failure to me. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/29 "2005-05-06T16:34:37Z")
> [@F. U. Shakespeare](#): > > I have no first-hand experience with push-button transmissions, but when I’ve read about them, I always worried that they’d be easy to accidentally bump and shift into reverse or park when going 60. > > Was this the case? > > Or was the design good enough to protect against this? > > If the former, I would reckon this is why they didn’t catch on. In the cars I’ve seen, the push-buttons were always on the dashboard, well out of the way of the normal stuff (in my '62 Chrysler, it was at the top left of the instrument panel, right next to the door, and the only things near it were the knobs for the headlights and windshield wipers). The only reason I suspect they died is because a lot of full size cars still came with three-on-the-tree manual transmissions, so the manufacturers would have to install different panels for those cars. In other words, not because customers didn’t like them, but because they were an added cost that customers didn’t care about one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/30 "2005-05-06T18:39:14Z")
The idea that if you raise boys and girls exactly the same with no gender expectations they will come out exactly the same with no gender differences. My mom and dad sure tried hard on this one, but I just played with my brothers’ dolls while they played with my trucks. Which is not to say we should TRY to impose gender stereotypes on our children. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/31 "2005-05-06T21:25:38Z")
“Bubble gum” pop music. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/32 "2005-05-07T01:55:05Z")
The draft. Psychedelic art (think: Peter Max). Black lights in bars. Nehru jackets (damn, I wish they’d come back). Pop and op art Thinking that the world as we knew it would come to an end if the Beatles broke up. Thinking that it was Yoko’s fault when they did. The Summer of Love. Riots on college campuses. Guys with long hair and full beards. Folk music. Ayn Rand fan clubs on college campuses. Short dresses with an “empire” waist. “Hip” variety shows. Totally unprotected sex with no serious consequences. The fear of getting arrested and/or beaten up if you were in a gay bar that got busted. A secret signal in gay bars, telling people to “straighten up” because the Vice Squad was paying a visit. Granny glasses. Beads and peace-sign jewelry. Clothing with flower patterns. Girls with long, straight hair (even if they had to iron it). “Light shows.” Pea coats and long, thick scarves. The quasi-military look (think: Sgt. Pepper) “Oh, wow, man . . .” ---
**Author:** ![scott\_evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@scott\_evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scott_evil)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/33 "2005-05-07T02:36:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Isn’t interferon still used, as part of the drug cocktail used to treat AIDS? Not a panacaea, to be sure, and like any drug, it needs to be used properly, but treating AIDS doesn’t sound like a failure to me. Zidovudine (AZT, Retrovir) was developed in 1964 as an anti-cancer drug. It didn’t perform well, so it was shelved. In 1987, it became the first HIV/AIDS drug to be approved. Toxic stuff, but it was better than nothing. It’s still used in combination meds (all-in-one pills rather than a bunch of pills); Combivir and Trizivir are two of them. But it was developed in 1964, so I guess it doesn’t qualify for this thread. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/34 "2005-05-07T02:55:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Back in '68,'69, there was always a Revolution coming down. I musta missed it. Maybe they should have televised it. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/35 "2005-05-07T03:35:09Z")
The Black Panthers. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/36 "2005-05-07T03:43:43Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#): > > The Black Panthers. I remember remarking on that to my dad in the late 80s, when one of the (probably all white) little-kid soccer teams in town voted to name itself “Black Panthers”. I don’t think any of the kids had heard of the group at all. I was a teenager, and I barely had. They just weren’t mentioned any more. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/37 "2005-05-07T03:45:49Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > The draft. Er, a nitpick: the draft was around for long enough before the 60s that I don’t think you could call it an “experiment.” ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/38 "2005-05-07T04:13:53Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > I remember remarking on that to my dad in the late 80s, when one of the (probably all white) little-kid soccer teams in town voted to name itself “Black Panthers”. I don’t think any of the kids had heard of the group at all. I was a teenager, and I barely had. They just weren’t mentioned any more. How about the [Yippies](http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?sm1=SG93IGFib3V0IHRoZSBZaXBwaWVzPyA6KSA=&fw=3&fc=4&ss=-1&es=-1&gwp=11&ver=1.0.3.109&method=1)? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/39 "2005-05-07T12:41:31Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Er, a nitpick: the draft was around for long enough before the 60s that I don’t think you could call it an “experiment.” and, it didn’t actually fail, they just stopped doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511/40 "2005-05-07T18:28:32Z")
Xray machines in shoe stores. (this mighta been late 50’s) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiments-that-failed-in-the-late-60s/302511.md?page=3)