This reminds me of the discussions I have with friends about future technology, and they blow my mind with things like "dude, someone's already made a working hoverboard" or "[insert future-y technology here] will almost certainly exist before you even get your first gray hair". My response is usually "get out", and theirs is usually "No, really, they're making progress on _____ all the time!"dhkendall wrote:You being apparently stuck in the early 20th century explains a lot.TenPoundHammer wrote:This is exactly why I don't usually even bother guessing in those "What century did this happen" categories, because I keep thinking X00's = Xth century. (That, and I often don't even have an idea as to the right millennium, as shown by my not knowing that Muhammad was before 1000.)opusthepenguin wrote:Part of it was that my brain did what it too often does. I saw "18th century" and thought "1800s".
As much as I actually kinda want to learn about future tech, particularly since I'm trying to build a futuristic, semi-utopian world, it sometimes scares me. And not in a "terrorists in 2060 hack the worldwide teleportation network and global economy plummets" way. Hell, tech has taken huge leaps in ways that I've been around to see first hand. The Internet. Cell phones. Tablets. DVDs and Blu-Rays. HDTVs. Wi-fi. Right now I'm sitting next to a lady at McDonald's who's furiously working on homework, online, using a tablet with a wireless keyboard. Something like that was almost totally unfeasible even less than 10 years ago.
It's not like I wanna have this 2010-bought MacBook be my only computer ever, or ditch all tech and become a hermit. But it's still a "whoa" moment to me.