Is the future already here?

1. 90

   Georgie Loweryposted 11 years ago

   Is the future already here?
   
   I just read an article about a super secret unmanned aircraft that can travel from New York to Los Angeles in twelve minutes. At first I though that was a misprint, but it isn't. Its test wasn't a success because it went so fast that it's skin peeled off, causing it to crash.
   
   Personally, when I think about the future, I see Marty McFly and his hover-skateboard. But, with all the advancements in technology, I sometimes think that we're already living in the future that science fiction has painted a picture of for decades.
   
   What do you think?
   
   

   replyreport
2. 59

   Eugene Hardyposted 11 years ago

   Yes and no.
   
   Yes, in many ways our technological advancements have outpaced some of our past science fiction writer's concepts, (like cell phones and ever faster computers).
   
   But there are some things we are falling behind on, like our development of space.  For instance, we do not yet have colonies in space, and humans have only gotten as far Earth orbit.  And as fast as our computers are, none of them are reportedly anything like HAL, an artificially intelligent computer.
   
   But there are some disquieting trends emerging due to economics.

   replyreport
   1. 90

      Georgie Loweryposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I think if the economy weren't so bad all over the world, we might have already made larger inroads into space. I'll take HAL, but Ripley can keep her aliens!
      
      Thank you for the comment.

      replyreport
3. 60

   againsttheoddsposted 11 years ago

   Maybe the future is already here and we are just living in a virtual simulation of the past ran on supercomputers beyond our current capabilities.  Digital physics has a lot of evidence pointing to a consciousness that is derived from just that sort of a virtual reality.  Things are far more advanced than they might at first appear.

   replyreport
   1. 90

      Georgie Loweryposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      So... we're in the matrix?

      replyreport
4. 72

   Ciel Clarkposted 11 years ago

   Twelve minutes is my commute to work-- Can you imagine if we could commute that far?? 
   Yes, we are experiencing things that we saw (or our parents saw) in futuristic movies years ago--but we can never live in the future, only now! 
   Besides, ask anyone high school age and under--they are totally unimpressed by the things that to me seem very very cool...  (They probably would be blase about the 12 minute cross-country flight as well-- I will ask my son tomorrow and see what he says.)
   
   So if you were making a movie about the future, what almost incomprehensible inventions would you include?  (Ones that would even impress high school students).

   replyreport
   1. 90

      Georgie Loweryposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hrm. I really don't know what invention I'd put in a movie a about the future. Anything I could think of has already been used, like the food replicators in Star Trek. This would be a good question for you to ask the Hubber Community!

      replyreport