tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post5740609406621473681..comments2024-03-27T03:19:11.216-04:00Comments on Assistant Village Idiot: Yesterday's FutureAssistant Village Idiothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-71874132883489306202010-12-20T06:28:56.300-05:002010-12-20T06:28:56.300-05:00They love the comments about the gyms in nursery s...They love the comments about the gyms in nursery schools and everyone running miles a day. Also, the omission of alphabet letters and the fruit predictions always bring a good laugh. They also enjoy figuring out how many have actually come true, in some cases, to a greater extent than was predicted (long-range missiles, cell phones, frozen dinners, internet). We all agree that we'd love our mail delivered by pneumatic tubes attached to our houses (a prediction on the original article I have but apparently not on the website).Erinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12803753870981743904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-66968642337451180552010-12-19T09:38:34.597-05:002010-12-19T09:38:34.597-05:00Erin,
I thought it was actually quite good, much ...Erin,<br /><br />I thought it was actually quite good, much better than century-away predictions usually are.<br /><br />Do you remember which particular items stirred up the most vivid reactions among your students?David Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464681514800720063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-38197236537463625012010-12-19T09:14:32.259-05:002010-12-19T09:14:32.259-05:00I have a similar list from the Ladies Home Journal...I have a similar list from the Ladies Home Journal that I share with my students as part of my introductory material to 1984. We talk about the differences between making conjectures, literary prophecies, and satire. The kids always get a big kick out of the list.<br />http://www.yorktownhistory.org/homepages/1900_predictions.htmErinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12803753870981743904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-55834364640163599602010-12-18T08:28:25.069-05:002010-12-18T08:28:25.069-05:00Robert Millikan's assertion that "the spr...Robert Millikan's assertion that "the spread of the scientific method, which has been so profoundly significant for physics, to the solution of our social problems is almost certain to come" would be asserted by many others, and widely believed, a couple of decades later. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, science enjoyed enormous prestige as a result of accomplishments in nuclear energy, radar, computers, spaceflight, etc...and social scientists asserted that *their* fields could lead to the same kind of dramatic advances. The utter lack of humility in these claims has a lot to do with many of our current problems.David Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464681514800720063noreply@blogger.com