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TOPIC 4 TEAM 2: SOCIAL ORGANISATION PATTERNS / POLITICAL PATTERNS, PAST UTOPIES FULFILLED OR NOT

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    PREDICTIONS OF THE FUTURE THAT HAVE NOT BEEN FULFILLED

     

    Four decades ago, the American science fiction James R. Berry  published a story set in 2008 in a specialized magazine. He told a series of predictions that, according to Berry, we would have today. Although we can say that we have seen many spooky things, it seems that our friend Berry's imagination skated on a few inventions. Here we show five predictions made in the 60's and that have not been fulfilled.

     

    1) We would travel in cars that travel alone.

     

    While it is true that there are prototypes that point in that direction, the action of the human being in the steering wheel is still essential (which explains the high number of traffic accidents). On the other hand, Berry was right in describing devices such as the GPS navigator.

     

    2) The climate of a whole city would be under our control

     

    Although it is possible to air-conditioning our homes thanks to devices such as air conditioning, heating and programmers like the Ecobee Smart Thermostat, it is still out of our reach to decide what temperature to do in the city.

     

    3) The public transport of 2008 would be the modemixers

     

    The modemixers would be platforms located between the 25 and the 80 kilometers of distance of the cities. In them we would take rockets capable of transporting up to 200 people and that are propelled by compressed air. And they would be the only vehicles allowed to access the center of the cities, where we would also have electric sidewalks (although this may not be a very good idea on rainy days). A pity on the other hand for those who had cars as original as MAG Magnetic.

     

    4) Four-hour working day

     

    One of the most optimistic ... And less likely to be fulfilled.

     

    5) Medical diagnostic chairs

     

    It would be as simple as taking a seat for a minute or two and in an instant we would get a full report on our health. An extraordinary method for reducing waiting lists that, perhaps, is not so far away. If I can do a complete DNA analysis thanks to 23andme from home, why not a self-check while weighing ourselves in the service?

     

    Many of these geniuses have not yet come, but they are on the march. Multinational companies like Philips have shown prototypes and concepts of home medical diagnostic systems. In Terminal 4 of the airport of Barajas a train without driver transfers to the travelers between terminals. However, most of the predictions still go a little green. Who knows what we will have in another forty years?

     

    6) 1953 - The cities of the future

     

    These images are amazing (and personal favorites), in them we can see a vision of what life would be like in the 21st century. Life in suburbs would be in neighborhoods full of domes, houses would cease to exist and we would have our own ecosystem, where we could choose the temperature and way of life. But the cover of the special edition of 'Future Cities' is memorable, in it they imagine colonies in space, houses with solar panels, televisions in a bracelet, we go, true visionaries.

     

    7) 1958 - The car driving by solar energy

     

    In the golden age of the American engine industry, Chrysler, through its Vice President James C. Zeder, was launching a major prediction of what cars would look like in the future. These would be driven by a solar system that would supply a battery by means of silicon converters. The Chrysler Sunray Sedan, of which only a sketch existed, would be the bet of the manufacturer, who claimed that they were already working on it and would see the light in the following years.

     

    8) A Happy World Aldous Huxley (1932)

     

    Criticism of the society of its time, she the disastrous consequences of the naive Confidence in technological development. The society Is destined to achieve the maximum happiness of Its members, but it is a happiness misleading, childish, unconscious and naive. everybody The technical means are at the service of this ideal, on which the stability of the state depends. For Genetic manipulation of the population and develop conditioning techniques so that Individuals want to do what they should do. This happiness is achieved at the expense of freedom and Autonomy of the individual. The supremacy of the State

    Is the motto "Community, identity, stability" (Just the opposite of that of the French Revolution: "Freedom, equality, fraternity").

     

    TEAM 2 Iker Calvo Tomás Fernandez Laura Montaner Felix Palacios