Is the World what you thought it would be?

aguero93:20 said:
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That was me too with Celtic at the same time. Better hair obviously, but the same deal.
 
Growing up in the 70s I'd look up from the school playing field to see Concorde overhead, the moon landings were relatively recent, plastic was the future.

I think we have vastly underachieved in space travel and exploration. Truly astonishing to me that there's still no lunar settlement still obsessed with the low earth orbit International Space Station, no great advance in my opinion. Of course my daughter and niece and nephew point out given the humongous costs of space, what's the point?

Really we should be counting our blessings to have made it thus far. October 1962 could easily have been the end of the human race but for brinkmanship and bravado from JFK.

All the ideals of the flower power generation and we still have the same concerns. Most of the wealth is in the hands of an unaccountable elite, people are still discriminated against for a whole host of reasons, there's no great energy alternatives, were fucking up our environment big style.

But ....... we are living longer, until the last decade or so living standards had been steadily improving. My worry is that previously universal positives like the best healthcare, education or justice will be the purview of the rich. Gordon Gecko was spot on "greed is good" has become the rallying cry of the haves.

In the UK I think we really need a rebalance and redistribution of wealth to make this a fairer society, whatever that means.

Also disappointed with lack of flying cars and sexbots!
 
Bill Walker said:
I think things are way better now and better than I expected. I just wish I was younger to see more advancements.

1) Travel. We can fly anywhere now at reasonable cost, something my Grandad could've only dreamt off. World cruises are within reach of working class people. No longer just for the very wealthy.

2) Technology. We have in our pockets a computer that can store 10.000 books, 1000 movies, a million photo's, can tell us the answer to almost anything. Stream almost every song ever recorded. Stream TV shows and movies. Act as a brilliant camera and Video recorder. Store our diary, calender, do word games, watch sport, use as an Encyclopedia, name plants, planes, ships. I can read The Manchester Evening News in Australia every day.
TV's now you can have home cinema with full surround sound. 100" screens in Full HD. Fully Automatic washing machines/dryers. Brilliant Fridge Freezers, Microwaves.

3) Cars. When I was a kid somebody buying a new car was like an event, blimey he's rich. Now it's no big deal, most working people can afford a new car.

4) Health. Massive improvements in health, most cancers are now curable if caught in time. Artificial heart valves (40 years ago I wouldve just died a slow painful death), artificial limbs, think of Para Olympics, Pacemakers, etc. people now living longer than ever, preventative treatments for Asthma. Much better anesthetics for surgery, most disease's like Polio, Measles, Whooping Cough wiped out. Less childhood deaths.

5) Food. I never knew what a Mango or Cantalupo Melon tasted like, never probably heard of them as a kid. Now we have an abundance of food from all over the world. Curries, Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian, the list goes on. Supermarkets stuffed with choice and you can even get home delivery if you dont have a car. (My Mother would've died for that)

6) Choice. Basically, you have heaps more choice in everything you do or buy.

7) Smoke. Thankfully, work, public transport, pubs, clubs cafes are now not buried in carcinogenic cigarette smoke.

Keep your Good Old days for me :)
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I'll add on to that with something like central heating, I grew up without it, we had 1 fire in the living room, that was it, now people can't seem to manage without a radiator in every room.
Cars are way better, smoother, automatic, much better brakes, power steering and more reliable nowadays also.

Quiz shows have improved enormously, take eggheads for example, they even had @Mad Eyed Screamer on there..I mean, how would he have got on telly 50 years ago ?
 
Chrisja1000 said:
One thing I’ve noticed since the pandemic is just how selfish people have become, it feels like there’s no community spirit anymore.
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Some, not everyone ....I just spent time moving an old ladies furniture around who lives upstairs. I'm nice aren't I ? (that's a rhetorical question btw)
 
aguero93:20 said:
There's no death robots controlled by a rogue AI killing off all of humanity yet so it's been a bit of a disappointment so far, the next few years look like they could be promising though.
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Have you never heard of the 3 Laws of Robotics?

The Three Laws are:

  1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
  2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
  3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
I spent my teenage years (and later) reading Science Fiction. Isaac Asimov (RIP) invented and included this in a few novels, adding moral and ethical posers in them.

I wonder if future robots (or AIs) will be similarly programmed?
 
crazyg said:
Have you never heard of the 3 Laws of Robotics?

The Three Laws are:

  1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
  2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
  3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
I spent my teenage years (and later) reading Science Fiction. Isaac Asimov (RIP) invented and included this in a few novels, adding moral and ethical posers in them.

I wonder if future robots (or AIs) will be similarly programmed?
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The 3 laws of Rogue AIs:

1. Kill all humans
2. Kill all humans
3. Kill all humans
 
Bill Walker said:
I'll add on to that with something like central heating, I grew up without it, we had 1 fire in the living room, that was it, now people can't seem to manage without a radiator in every room.
Cars are way better, smoother, automatic, much better brakes, power steering and more reliable nowadays also.

Quiz shows have improved enormously, take eggheads for example, they even had @Mad Eyed Screamer on there..I mean, how would he have got on telly 50 years ago ?
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Luxury. We used to dream of a fire in the living room. Best we could manage was a packet of extra strong mints and sat round my dad as he breathed out to keep warm..
 
The world I think is way more violent now, more crime. The late night streets are not safe in cities.
Back around 1970 I walked home to Stalybridge from Manchester many times at 2 or 3 am, never felt threatened.
Wouldn't advise anyone doing that now.
 
Bill Walker said:
The world I think is way more violent now, more crime. The late night streets are not safe in cities.
Back around 1970 I walked home to Stalybridge from Manchester many times at 2 or 3 am, never felt threatened.
Wouldn't advise anyone doing that now.
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Manchester City centre in 1970 after midnight was fucking dangerous.
And you didn’t walk for three hours.
Why didn’t you get the trolley bus?
 
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