# Looking for past futurist predictions on life on the current era - Here's 1968 predicts 2008 **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 24, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995 "2009-10-24T19:39:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/1 "2009-10-24T19:39:01Z")
There’s [another SDMB thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=536601) in MPSIMS on current futurist predictions going forward. I’m interested in futurist predictions from the past for the current era. Here’s [40 Years In The Future](http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/03/24/what-will-life-be-like-in-the-year-2008/) Anyone have any other past predictions? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/2 "2009-10-24T19:44:25Z")
[Here are some others](http://www.findlove-keeplove.com/funny-predictions.html) > [@](#): > > Tired of all those predictions people make at the start of the new year? Don’t worry - most of them probably will never come true. At least, that’s the opinion of Cynthia Crossen in the Wall Street Journal, who explains that even the smartest people throughout history have been unable to predict the future: “If you are tempted to make predictions about the future… consider keeping them to yourself. History can so easily make a fool of you.” > > Among the silliest predictions cited by Cynthia: > > (1) In 1911, an English clergyman, William Henry Fitchett, suggested that war would become an historical oddity: “There will, in the near future, be a revolt, both of the reason and the conscience of the civilized world, from the state of armed peace which at present prevails, with its ever-multiplying fleets of Dreadnoughts and its universal training for war. The appliances for war have grown to such a scale that war itself will be recognized as impossible.” (This prior to WWI, WWII, Gulf War and Desert Storm-- Still waiting for this one). > > (2) In 1911, Richard Lucas of the Royal College of Surgeons in England predicted that some day human beings of the future would become one-toed. “The small toes are being used less and less as time goes on, while the great toe is developing in an astonishing manner.” > > (3) In 1914, Sir Henry Blake, a British government official, predicted the rise of the noiseless city, where rubber would replace brick, stone and asphalt as street paving. > > (4) In 1925, Harvey W. Corbett of the American Institute of Architects said, “Fifty years hence automobile traffic will have entirely disappeared from the surface thoroughfares of New York City, and people will be shot through tubes like merchandise.” > > (5) In 1929, a New York City haberdasher, John David, predicted that “the well-dressed man of 2020 will wear shorts for every occasion except formal events.” > > (6) In 1942, the associate editor of Better Homes and Gardens predicted that the housewife of the future would know how to repair radios, irons, lamps, washing machines and cars (Wishful thinking). > > (7) In 1943, the research director of the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp. predicted that hybrid auto-airplanes “will fly through the air and then fold their wings like a housefly and run along the road.” ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/3 "2009-10-24T19:50:06Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Here’s [40 Years In The Future](http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/03/24/what-will-life-be-like-in-the-year-2008/) This isn’t too bad. I mean, you have your flying car prediction in there, of course, but the author relatively accurately described e-commerce and debit cards, among other things. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/4 "2009-10-24T19:51:00Z")
[The Paleo-Future Blog is devoted to these things.](http://www.paleofuture.com/) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/5 "2009-10-24T19:58:18Z")
[Here’s 1961 Predicts 2000.](http://www.pixelmatic.com.au/2000/) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/6 "2009-10-24T19:59:54Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > [The Paleo-Future Blog is devoted to these things.](http://www.paleofuture.com/) That’s great! ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/7 "2009-10-24T21:19:50Z")
> [@](#): > > (5) In 1929, a New York City haberdasher, John David, predicted that “the well-dressed man of 2020 will wear shorts for every occasion except formal events.” But that’s true! Or am I not well dressed? Ah well, at least I’m in [good company](http://www.lylamiklos.com/images/hero_PeterJackson.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/8 "2009-10-24T22:45:36Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > But that’s true! Or am I not well dressed? Ah well, at least I’m in [good company](http://www.lylamiklos.com/images/hero_PeterJackson.jpg). It’s not 2020 yet. You’re still a pariah, and you won’t be liberated from that status until the Great Shortening of 2016. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/9 "2009-10-25T01:49:01Z")
Robert Heinlein’s _For Us The Living_ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For\_Us,\_The\_Living:\_A\_Comedy\_of\_Customs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Us,_The_Living:_A_Comedy_of_Customs): Major predictions (Up to 2009): 1. World War 2 fizzles out and Hitler ends up commiting suicide and Mussolini replaced by the king. Fact Check: Quite accurate although there is no American intervention in this war however the fates of Hitler and Mussolini are still suprisingly correct. 2. Europe forms a union under the Duke of Windsor who establishes a common currency, military, and trade pact. However they destroy themselves in civil war. Fact Check: European Union prediction accurate otherwise hilariously unrealistic. 3. In 2003 US goes to war against Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, the Latin American powers attack Manhattan kills millions. Fact Check: This is a rather eerie foretelling of 9-11 although far less devestating. Olaf Stapledon’s _Last and First Men_: Major predictions (Up to 2009): This book is fairly accurate. It depicts the decline of Europe as the world’s center stage and posits that the United States of America and China to be the two global superpowers. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/10 "2009-10-25T02:46:27Z")
LOL. To be fair to me, I don’t think making predictions like ‘science and medicine will get better’ is really that controversial. Most of my predictions (1-5 & 8) came down to that. Six is actually a trend in demographics. Seven and nine are just guesses based on the progress we’ve made in those areas in the last 40 years. Its almost like predicting ‘cars will get better gas mileage’. I’m predicting I’ll be sitting in my bathtub crying an hour from now. I hope you’re happy. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/11 "2009-10-25T03:02:59Z")
Kind of funny that even with all the domed cities and flying cares, they still blithely assume the continued existence of conventional “housewives.” ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/12 "2009-10-25T05:19:22Z")
I’m mildly annoyed by people twisting the words of predictions to make ‘hits’ out of blatant misses. I shall demonstrate. > [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > 1. World War 2 fizzles out and Hitler ends up commiting suicide and Mussolini replaced by the king. Fact Check: Quite accurate although there is no American intervention in this war however the fates of Hitler and Mussolini are still suprisingly correct. How is this even remotely accurate? WWII was one of the biggest, most devastating wars the human race has ever known, at least in terms of the amount of fighting spread out over the largest area. The damn thing was so big it spawned at least one religion! (The John Frum Movement, widely called a ‘cargo cult’.) Also, Italy surrendered in 1943 and became a republic in 1946, meaning that Mussolini was replaced by a king who was in power for less than five years afterwords. > [@](#): > > 1. In 2003 US goes to war against Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, the Latin American powers attack Manhattan kills millions. Fact Check: This is a rather eerie foretelling of 9-11 although far less devestating. This is a mix of misses and one really unremarkable hit: South America has and had no reason to fight us, and Manhattan is a really obvious target. Overall, more laughable than eerie. I have seen prediction-twisting far worse than this. The Paleo-Future Blog, linked to above, has more than its share. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/13 "2009-10-25T05:44:12Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [Here are some others](http://www.findlove-keeplove.com/funny-predictions.html)In 1914, Sir Henry Blake, a British government official, predicted the rise of the noiseless city, where rubber would replace brick, stone and asphalt as street paving. Ground ex-tires are starting to become a significant part of freeway paving. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/14 "2009-10-25T06:03:12Z")
A lot of the infrastructure the OP’s link talks about would have had to be in the planning stages \*at that time \* (i.e., 1968) in order for it to come true within 40 years. Domed cities? Pshaw. Some of the computer-related stuff looks pretty close without too much twisting, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/15 "2009-10-25T11:14:22Z")
> [@](#): > > (5) In 1929, a New York City haberdasher, John David, predicted that “the well-dressed man of 2020 will wear shorts for every occasion except formal events.” Given Global Warming & the follies of fashion, this yet may be. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/16 "2009-10-25T18:30:59Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Ground ex-tires are starting to become a significant part of freeway paving. [Sidewalks too](http://www.rubbersidewalks.com/). I want to find a sidewalk paved in this way, to see if I can bounce a steel ball on it. Rubber sidewalks should make childhood _much_ more enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/17 "2009-10-25T18:49:44Z")
I’m fascinated by the ads that accompany the OP’s article. They certainly foreshadow 2008: “Work at home. Make $200 a month!” “No canvassing or selling.” “No salesman will call.” Add a zero or two to the $200 and it all sounds very familiar. ---
**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:** [October 26, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/18 "2009-10-26T18:56:08Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Kind of funny that even with all the domed cities and flying cares, they still blithely assume the continued existence of conventional “housewives.” It is harder in many ways to predict social trends than technological ones, but you’d think that in 1968 they’d see the writing on the wall! ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/19 "2009-10-26T19:15:24Z")
See, I told you I was promised a flying car! Where is it? I want it now! ---
**Author:** ![Recliner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a88e57/32.png) [@Recliner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recliner)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-past-futurist-predictions-on-life-on-the-current-era-heres-1968-predicts-2008/514995/20 "2009-10-26T23:35:33Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > It’s not 2020 yet. You’re still a pariah, and you won’t be liberated from that status until the Great Shortening of 2016. Aww, when will you loonies get it – THE AZTECS CAN’T PREDICT EVERYTHING!