# Say something that is true to a person in 1985 that will make you sound like a crazy person **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 20, 2022, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283 "2022-07-20T20:59:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/301 "2022-08-21T03:41:24Z")
This came up on my Facebook feed. 1963 article predicting pocket phones. > **[Engineering X](https://www.facebook.com/104086735494330/posts/pfbid02NFDaGfnhNSMdA5CGXQjjJqdJbENCmSdip26NVcgs7q1YfR3q8aEjAGaXceT9Z1vNl/?app=fbl)** > > News Article, 1963. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/302 "2022-08-21T04:02:45Z")
> [@susan](#): > > 1963 article predicting pocket phones. No where close to being the first such prediction. The idea of wireless phones is almost as old as phones themselves. And a lot of those predictions had the phones small enough to fit in a pocket. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/303 "2022-08-21T16:09:27Z")
Sure, the point being that in 1985 it wouldn’t have been a crazy idea. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/304 "2022-08-21T17:15:33Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I didn’t. > > I might or might not have seen the name; but I wouldn’t have paid it any attention. Yet another Book On How To Do Things that somebody wants to make money by selling. By 1985 he was mostly known as a real estate developer, and made a lot of news by his real estate buying in New York, opening casinos in Atlantic City and owning a sports team. He was probably as well kmown as someone like Mark Cuban today. Not quite a household name, but commonly in the news about something. The book didn’t make him a celebrity: it sold well because he already was one. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/305 "2022-08-21T17:28:27Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Um, I don’t think so. Worse than it’s ever been??? Do you know how low the literacy rate was in the early 1900s? “Some people”, is this greater or smaller than the number from pre-1990? From Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > According to the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level. 21% are functionally illiterate. > … > 19th century literacy rates in the United States were relatively high, despite the country’s decentralized educational system. There has been a notable increase in American citizens’ educational attainment since then, but studies have also indicated a decline in reading performance which began during the 1970s. I wouldn’t say ‘despite’ the decentralized school system, but ‘because’ of it. > **[Literacy in the United States | History](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_the_United_States#History)** > > In early U.S. colonial history, teaching children to read was the responsibility of the parents for the purpose of reading the Bible. The Massachusetts law of 1642 and the Connecticut law of 1650 required that not only children but also servants and apprentices were required to learn to read. During the industrial revolution, many nursery schools, preschools and kindergartens were established to formalize education. > Public schools were rare in the South before the late 19th century. > The Nationa... ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/306 "2022-08-21T17:40:29Z")
Prince Charles divorced Princess Di in favor of Camilla Parker Bowles. Prince Andrew is a renowned perverted and widely despised. Bruce Jenner is a woman and her real name is Caitlin. The ERA still hasn’t been ratified. The vast majority of houses still don’t have solar panels. The Berlin Wall has been destroyed, but a US President tried to erect one throughout the US/Mexico border. Cars still run on gasoline. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/307 "2022-08-21T17:42:27Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > From Wikipedia: > > > [@](#): > > > > According to the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level. 21% are functionally illiterate. > > … > > 19th century literacy rates in the United States were relatively high, despite the country’s decentralized educational system. This is the proverbial apples to oranges comparison. On one hand, you’re quoting a stat that disparages modern literacy by using the educational system as a metric (and “below the 6th grade level” is still literate, even if they aren’t up to reading long books). Then, you quote favorably a reference to “relatively high” literacy rates, which doesn’t compare to what grade level this corresponds to (if it was a 3rd grade level, then the earlier critique of modern people reading below the 6th grade level is meaningless). And it’s “relative” to what, exactly? An era of general illiteracy? Or our modern world, with it’s more formal education system? ETA: I also see that you butchered the cite (I’ll let others opine in other forums whether it was deliberate). 21% of Americans are functionally illiterate? That’s not what was claimed on Wikipedia. > [@](#): > > …with 21% of American adults categorized as having “low level English literacy,” including 4.1% classified as “functionally illiterate” and an additional 4% that could not participate. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/308 "2022-08-21T18:48:43Z")
I missed that in the Wikipedia article. Let’s go with the current 4.1% number. If that’s people who cannot read or write, It must be climbing. Have a look at the chart about midway down this page: > **[National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) - 120 Years of Literacy](https://nces.ed.gov/naal/lit_history.asp)** > > Presents information from 1869-70-the date of the first Office of Education report-to the late 1970s on. The creation of the Federal Department of Education in 1867 highlighted the importance of education. According to that, functional illiteracy in America in 1930 was 4.3%. By 1969 it was 1%.by 1979 0.6%. People in 1985 lived in a country where virtually everyone could read and write. Forty years later, and we’re back up to 4.1? From Library Journal: > **[How Serious Is America's Literacy Problem?](https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/How-Serious-Is-Americas-Literacy-Problem)** > > The first step in solving a problem is seeing it clearly. This article, part one of an ongoing series, defines the broad scope and depth of the literacy crisis in the United States, among both children and adults. Future installments will address the... > [@](#): > > According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), 21 percent of adults in the United States (about 43 million) fall into the illiterate/functionally illiterate category. Nearly two-thirds of fourth graders read below grade level, and the same number graduate from high school still reading below grade level. This puts the United States well behind several other countries in the world, including Japan, all the Scandinavian countries, Canada, the Republic of Korea, and the UK. The article goes on to say that literacy rates have been stagnant a long time, but may have begun declining after 2017 based on testing 4th and 8th graders. I can’t imagine what the Covid lockdowns have done for literacy, but I’m sure it’s not good. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/309 "2022-08-21T19:08:46Z")
Those numbers are a bit confusing - above the chart on the nces.ed page it says > The more recent focus on illiteracy has centered on functional literacy, which addresses the issue of whether a person’s educational level is sufficient to function in a modern society. The earlier surveys of illiteracy examined a very fundamental level of reading and writing. The percent of illiteracy, according to earlier measurement methods, was less than 1 percent of persons 14 years old and over in 1979. If the 1979 number was using the earlier method, that 1% was measuring something very different than the 4.1% described as “functionally illiterate”. It is entirely possible that in 1979 only 1% of the population didn’t have a fundamental ability to read and write and a somewhat higher percentage were functionally illiterate. Aside from that , “functional literacy” is relative - it’s whatever level of literacy is needed to function in that society so that the level of literacy my great-grandparents needed to function in 1910 is probably not the same as my children need to function in 2022. It’s not like the numbers we have tell us that 4.1% of the current population would have been functionally illiterate in 1979. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/310 "2022-08-21T19:09:53Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Forty years later, and we’re back up to 4.1? We? How’s Canada doing, and why is it better/not better than the U.S.? Back to the topic at hand. I remember 1985 quite well. There were issues with education then, there are issues now. I don’t think anyone in 1985 would be even mildly surprised that we’re still failing some populations of students. Disappointed, sure. But you wouldn’t “sound like a crazy person” for pointing it out. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/311 "2022-08-21T19:40:29Z")
The two biggest nationwide street gangs at wars in the s80s would have a truce going about 8 years later after south-central and other parts of la burned down And the so-called crack epidemic would pretty much solve its self Oh and a single pack of brand-name cigarettes might cost 2-4 times more than a carton (which I think was 10 packs in a box) I looked this up in this article: [Price Of A Pack Of Cigarettes Through the Decades – 24/7 Wall St.](https://247wallst.com/special-report/2019/06/19/price-of-a-pack-of-cigarettes-through-the-decades/) **1980s** **\> Avg. price:** $1.01 per pack **\> Inflation-adjusted price:** $2.40 per pack **\> Avg. state and federal cigarette taxes:** $0.31 per pack **\> Annual consumption per capita:** 2,520 cigarettes **\> Lung & bronchus cancer deaths:** 58.6 per 100,000 **2010s** the 2010’s: **\> Avg. price:** 6.32 per pack \*\*\> Inflation-adjusted price:\*\* !Undefined Bookmark, N per pack **\> Avg. state and federal cigarette taxes:** $2.62 per pack **\> Annual consumption per capita:** 468 cigarettes **\> Lung & bronchus cancer deaths:** 44.0 per 100,000 Note in some places a pack of Marlboros can be up to 13 or more a pack ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/312 "2022-08-21T23:18:57Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Cars still run on gasoline And they still don’t fly. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/313 "2022-08-22T03:14:28Z")
Ooh, this sounds like fun! 😁 The whole overcommercialized, overhyped, overproduced, overpriced, decadent, bloated Christmas season will face a massive pushback. It’s going to start later and end much quicker, it’s going to be much lower-key, and no one’s going to be expected to be a part of it. A plethora of songs, including Baby It’s Cold Outside, Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer, and _anything_ involving religion, will not be played at all anymore. The Baby Boomers will maintain an iron grip on most aspects of American society well into the aughts…then, in a remarkably short timeframe, be almost universally seen as self-absorbed, useless, greedy ingrates and lose pretty much all their influence. Massive national chain stores will spread across the country like wildfire, ruthlessly crush all opposition…then, one by one, quietly disappear for reasons that don’t make much sense. Everything about video games is going to completely, royally suck. Don’t have time to explain it all, but in a nutshell: Grossly overpriced random items, grossly overpriced non-random items, all-electronic formats which can be yanked or butchered at any time, games released broken and unplayable, work conditions worse than on the Death Star, executives ranging from “totally evil” to “extremely evil”, vital functions like reporting offensive behavior handled by automated systems that never work, creativity getting stomped flat, some companies saying the hell with it and giving up producing games entirely, aaaaaand occasionally a completely innocent woman gets her life ruined for no good reason. Treating women like sex toys in the office will be made illegal, and numerous men will face serious repercussions because of it. These measures will be widely accepted and never be seriously challenged. After Alison Bechdel completes a landmark 527-episode lesbian comic strip series with an amazingly rich, diverse cast of colorful characters, as well as numerous side projects and three critically-acclaimed books, making her the single most successful lesbian cartoonist in history, the one thing she will forever be remembered for is some stupid throwaway strip about action movies. Numerous Hollywood writers and reports will proclaim this to be her **TEST** and very loudly cite this **TEST** as an ironclad indicator of a movie’s quality. Mike Tyson will annihilate all comers en route to unifying the heavyweight championship. He will then have one shocking defeat, one fairly unpleasant scandal, and one embarrassing in-ring mental breakdown, and then he’ll go on a slow, boring decline and fade away with zero fanfare. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/314 "2022-08-22T03:23:09Z")
Kids in the future will be _much_ more familiar with the terms “monetize” and “merch” than “sell-out.” ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/315 "2022-08-22T05:16:25Z")
@DKW I think we’re looking for “things that are true now” and either your post was a complete woosh or one of us has badly misunderstood. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/316 "2022-08-22T14:45:34Z")
Someone convinced an entire generation of women that they can’t get laid unless they rip their pubic hairs out with hot wax. Nobody knows who did it or why young women have accepted this idiocy, but here we are. Oh, and nobody wears pantyhose anymore. Bare legs are just normal, even in white tie settings. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/317 "2022-08-22T15:38:29Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Someone convinced an entire generation of women that they can’t get laid unless they rip their pubic hairs out with hot wax. Nobody knows who did it or why young women have accepted this idiocy, but here we are. On the one hand, yeah, it’s dumb. On the other, fashion is frequently dumb. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/318 "2022-08-22T17:06:09Z")
Everyone will carry a phone with them wherever they go, but many will almost never use it to make a phone call. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/319 "2022-08-22T17:34:33Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Gay people can get married. This wouldn’t have surprised me at all. Social progress has been a feature of our civilization for a long time. Someone already said the Soviet Union, and that’s what would have blown me away - not that the USSR would cease to exist, _but that it would be gone in just six years in essentially peaceful fashion._ That in 1985 was totally incomprehensible; no serious person, anywhere, anticipated that. It was simply not in the cards in any way. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/320 "2022-08-22T19:19:13Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Someone already said the Soviet Union, and that’s what would have blown me away - not that the USSR would cease to exist, _but that it would be gone in just six years in essentially peaceful fashion._ That in 1985 was totally incomprehensible; no serious person, anywhere, anticipated that. It was simply not in the cards in any way. Yeah, 1985 was kind of like the craziest part of the Cold War- the Soviets were perceived as having a larger, better military, more nukes, and so forth by the general public. And they were viewed as being more or less implacably evil, between their rhetoric about furthering revolutions, advancing communism, and all that, as well as their behavior in the various proxy wars and Eastern Europe over the prior decades. Nobody had any idea that they were teetering on the edge of collapse, and that within 4 years the Berlin Wall would fall, and within six, the whole thing would fall apart in a peaceful fashion. I think right up until 1989 (I was 16-17 at the time), I fully believed that World War III would break out in some fashion far more than I’d have believed that the Soviet Union would basically just dissolve. I mean, “Red Dawn” had come out the year before, “Rocky IV” had Rocky fighting super-Soviet Ivan Drago, who’d killed Apollo Creed in the ring that year, and “The Day After” had been a couple of years prior. The Soviets were absolutely the bad guys in the public consciousness, and there was no conception that they weren’t anything but malevolent and strong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283.md?page=17)