# Measuring Our Lives on an SF Timescale: What's Already Happened in SF? What's Coming Up Soon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [October 22, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040 "2010-10-22T20:14:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/41 "2018-09-23T01:20:00Z")
Bumped. In Joe Haldeman’s sf novel _Worlds Apart_ (1983), he mentions “the tiny double star Janus” being discovered in 2012, “tagging along with the Sun a mere tenth of a light year away. The stars were both black dwarfs, barely hot enough to be considered stars. But one of them, Alfvén, was made of antimatter.” Maybe named after this guy: [Hannes Alfvén - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannes_Alfv%C3%A9n) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/42 "2018-09-23T02:10:34Z")
2018 is the year that Eric Cartman’s _Dawson’s Creek_ Trapper Keeper breaks away from humanity and becomes unstoppable. ---
**Author:** ![ohiomstr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/82dd89/32.png) [@ohiomstr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ohiomstr2)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/43 "2018-09-23T03:40:39Z")
Meanwhile Woodrow Wilson Smith is watching it all go down from his hammock. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/44 "2018-09-23T03:48:50Z")
According to _Robots_ by McKenzie and Clement, all humans were dead by 2000, a result of the Robotic Uprising of the late 1990s. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/45 "2018-09-23T07:16:22Z")
We’re only four years away now from subsisting on food rations produced by the wonderful folks at the Soylent Corporation. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/46 "2018-09-24T14:41:04Z")
1980: We did not build a generating station for the energy source was found on the planet Pluto that, beamed across the Solar System, would solve the world’s energy needs. “Artery of Fire” 1980: Supreme Headquarters, Alien Defense Organization was not founded (or was it?) 1980: No flying cars “Just Imagine” 1985: We did not land the “First Spaceship on Venus” to determine that the Venusians had actually destroyed themselves in attempting an invasion of Earth. 2001: We did not launch a “Journey to the Seventh Planet”, which would have been the first landing on Uranus ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/47 "2018-09-24T15:13:01Z")
And in a show that isn’t technically sci fi but might as well be, for all that happens: Not only did Lisa Simpson not get married on August 1, 2010, she hasn’t aged a day past 8 in decades! There’s still time for her to become president, though. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/48 "2018-09-25T01:57:02Z")
Having just finished Matt Ruff’s _Sewer, Gas, and Electric_, I’ve spotted a mixed bag of stuff that happened and stuff that didn’t. The book is set in 2023 but via flashbacks tells a story covering from mid 20th century up until then. [ul] [li]Walt Disney corporation accidentally creates a virus that exterminates nearly all black people on earth - no.[/li][li]America run by crazed real estate billionaire from New York - yes.[/li][li]Eco-terrorists in polka-dotted submarine travel the world, rescuing endangered species and capturing corporate freighters - no.[/li][li]Great white sharks inhabit the sewers of New York - not that I know of.[/li][li]The Boy Scouts admit girls - yes.[/li][li]Queen Elizabeth becomes hard-nosed dictator intent on violent revenge against the USA - no.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/49 "2018-09-25T02:58:35Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > …There’s still time for her to become president, though. Yes, the show specifically said she follows President Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2019, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/50 "2019-03-23T19:28:21Z")
Just read Arthur C. Clarke’s 1956 funny short story “A Question of Residence,” in which British astronauts on the Moon extend their stay by a few weeks so that the reminiscences and exclusive-rights articles they’ve written there will be tax-free under the Capital Gains Act of 1972. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2019, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/51 "2019-03-23T19:59:37Z")
OK, so this isn’t about San Francisco, then. Hmmmmm . . . Well, I’m still waiting for the Arisians to start handing out Lenses. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2019, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/52 "2019-03-24T00:21:29Z")
Well, if we’re going to talk about living in a science fiction story, let me point out that 2019 is the year that all three movies _Blade Runner_, _Akira_, and _The Running Man_ happen. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2019, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/53 "2019-03-24T01:57:26Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > I’ve got nothing goin’ on… > > First, he tells Harris that [a huge deposit of gold is discovered in Canada in 1981](https://youtu.be/YbLnjVm0kbo?t=663) and that the price plummets back to $35/oz. Later he tells him that [gold is replaced by zinc in 1984!](https://youtu.be/YbLnjVm0kbo?t=754) (Your linked clip got removed, these have a hazy lens flare over them for some reason but are watchable). I just happen to have seen this episode recently. BTW, the episode takes place in January 1980. > > [Trek Nerd] > > This was the accepted canon for TOS, but by DS9 they had sort of retconned the Eugenics War and World War III into one conflict that happended later than the 90s. In fact ST:FC states that first contact takes place in 2060 something while Earth is still recovering from WWIII… Just pulled out my copy of _Star Trek Chronology_. According to the episode “Past Tense, Part 1” of DS9, in 2020 the US government creates special “Sanctuary Districts” for the numerous homeless and jobless people. They quickly degenerate into inhumane internment camps where the unemployed, homeless, mentally ill, and other outcast are imprisoned. Qadgop, the episode this takes place in is actually set in San Francisco as well. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/54 "2019-06-05T13:04:25Z")
I’m now listening to an audiobook of Robert A. Heinlein’s 1951 sf thriller _The Puppet Masters_, and there’s reference to the Whitmanite cult, which leaves its Antarctic enclave in 1974 to establish the New Zion colony near the north pole of Venus (a jungle world in Heinlein’s timeline, and in several other early works of sf, including Ray Bradbury’s short stories). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/55 "2019-11-15T16:47:06Z")
I’m re-reading Joe Haldeman’s excellent 1974 military sf novel _The Forever War_, and he mentions the Ration War of 2007, when mass starvation killed many millions across the globe. Glad we missed it! ---
**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:** [November 15, 2019, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/56 "2019-11-15T20:32:52Z")
_The Forever War_ was ludicrously early on its predictions. The opening of the novel is a mere ten years after when it was written, and in that time, space travel has become routine, we’ve discovered multiple nearby black holes, explored them enough to find weird effects from them, studied those weird effects enough to construct detailed theories about them, applied those theories to build a practical starship drive, and used that starship drive to meet and start a war with an alien race. Plus a complete radical overhaul of military policies and traditions. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/57 "2019-11-18T13:43:58Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Well, if we’re going to talk about living in a science fiction story, let me point out that 2019 is the year that all three movies _Blade Runner_, _Akira_, and _The Running Man_ happen. Which is closest to our current reality? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/58 "2019-12-20T19:00:26Z")
In _Logan’s Run_, a dystopic 1967 novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, we learn of the Little War, a March 2000 youth uprising that eventually led to everyone over age 21 being killed. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/59 "2019-12-20T19:54:52Z")
I’ve been rewatching all of _Community_. I thought of this thread a couple of days ago when it was mentioned that [in 2019 Troy Barnes invents Dance Pants](https://community-quotes.tumblr.com/post/22019830330/i-run-the-simulations-annie-i-dont-get-married). (In our timeline, all he did was [conceal Baby Yoda](https://www.businessinsider.com/it-was-donald-glovers-idea-to-keep-baby-yoda-secret-2019-12).) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/60 "2019-12-20T19:58:47Z")
(And _of course_ [it didn’t go unnoticed](https://www.google.com/search?q=Troy+dance+pants&oq=Troy+dance+pants&gs_l=mobile-heirloom-hp.3..0l2j0i22i30l3.1748.7956.0.8607.17.16.0.1.1.0.667.4537.3j3j3j2j0j4.15.0....0...1c.1.34.mobile-heirloom-hp..8.9.2026.PpV4PcTKchY).) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040.md?page=4)