The weird 1969 new wave sci-fi novel that correctly predicted the current day

reply to post by elevenaugust


Fantastic find , truly incredible how accurate this man depicted a futuristic society we find ourselves in now, going to try my best to get hold of a copy and gain more insight on the similarities that he portrays . Thanks for the share

reply to post by elevenaugust


Cool thread. Makes you think that maybe inventors read these books and get their ideas from them. Would be interesting if the inventor of Tivo read this book years ago.

reply to post by abeverage


You mean like Steely Dan/Donald Fagen predicted: spandex jackets for everyone, what a wonderful time to be alive?

As for science fiction, in general, I find quite a bit of it to be prescient....I have been an avid reader of it all my life, from Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, Harlan Ellison, Zelazny, and on and on. Much of it, as I said, has been predictive.

reply to post by elevenaugust


Building 7 fell.

Originally posted by Bluesma
We can find works that uncannily presented an accurate description of future events- what about that story "Futility, or The Wreck of the Titan" which was written and published way before the Titanic was even designed?

In these cases we tend to hypothesize that the writer may have had prophetic abilities, was informed about the future somehow (or it was just coincidence, of course). Somehow, purposefully or not, consciously or not, they glimpsed the future.

But a different spin that I always have turn in my head is this idea-

What if they wrote the future? I mean, instead of it being something (things) that were already destined to happen at the time of the writing, what if it is their imagining it that created it?

If perhaps, they have a very strong connection to a collective subconsciousness, they may have created a potential future, into which probabilities can gather as time goes on.

This would mean writers are extremely important to us all! It would also indicate that mans "speciality", the usage of linear language and writing, would be THE key to his free will. It may be in our ability to imagine and to place into symbols that remain static and continue to carry that vision, that we have the ability to create our future experiences.

Just an idea.......

edit on 10-4-2013 by Bluesma because: (no reason given)

I've been wondering the same thing. Which means we would actually do mankind a service by not watching the news anymore and generally keeping our minds off dystopian or otherwise scary/violent world events. I sometimes think that these types of events are increasing because we pay so much attention to them. As manifestation experts say, "Energy flows where attention goes."

Originally posted by Sandalphon
President Obomi and Mr. and Mrs. Everywhere.

Our parents took this stuff as gospel. Science fiction usually loses the fiction over time.

The author was either a psychic or a prophet, or he had a visitor from the future. A visionary.

Then why did he get so much wrong? I mean he got the few things in the OP right but, most of the stuff is completly off base.

reply to post by Wolfenz


AKIRA!!!! hehe

Originally posted by tetra50
reply to post by abeverage

 

You mean like Steely Dan/Donald Fagen predicted: spandex jackets for everyone, what a wonderful time to be alive?

As for science fiction, in general, I find quite a bit of it to be prescient....I have been an avid reader of it all my life, from Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, Harlan Ellison, Zelazny, and on and on. Much of it, as I said, has been predictive.

90 minutes from NewYork to Paris...

Actually one underrated author predicting the future was Chris Claremont writing comic books...

For those who want to read it - it took me like three seconds to find a PDF copy on the Interwebz. It will take a bit longer to print it out, but not much.

For the guy complaining about the disappearance of local book stores - Dude, the Internet IS the new local bookstore. Buggywhip much?

Haven't read all the replies yet, but I may just have to check that book out! Not much of a reader (besides online stuff of course), but this has piqued my interest. Thx for posting, S+F!

Greetings and Salutations!

My user name is devildogmom. Why that name? My son is a Marine. One of the nicknames for a Marine is Devil Dog. According to Wikipedia(and other sources) : Devil Dog is a motivational nickname for a U.S. Marine. It is said to be based on the apocryphal use of "Teufelshunde" by German soldiers to describe Marines fighting in World War I.

I am a new member to ATS ! Some of my interests lay in : end times and end times prophecy; three days of darkness; One World Order; the real last pope; the building and presence of concentration camps/compounds in the United States; the whittling away of our constitution and ergo our rights; our rights to bear arms; threats of nuclear attacks on the United States; WHO IS the puppet master of our country; Medicare's "donut hole" with a possible conspiracy to eliminate the old/feeble- "the expendables"; science/universe/aliens; massive unemployment with a possible agenda behind no more unemployment extensions after 26 weeks (I am a professional, I have a Master's Degree in a specialized field- I have not been able to find a full time or part time job since August 2012); lies about the real unemployment rate.
I can't wait to hear from you to learn as well as to contribute.
Best Regards,
devildogmom

Greetings and Salutations!

My user name is devildogmom. Why that name? My son is a Marine. One of the nicknames for a Marine is Devil Dog. According to Wikipedia(and other sources) : Devil Dog is a motivational nickname for a U.S. Marine. It is said to be based on the apocryphal use of "Teufelshunde" by German soldiers to describe Marines fighting in World War I.

I am a new member to ATS ! Some of my interests lay in : end times and end times prophecy; three days of darkness; One World Order; the real last pope; the building and presence of concentration camps/compounds in the United States; the whittling away of our constitution and ergo our rights; our rights to bear arms; threats of nuclear attacks on the United States; WHO IS the puppet master of our country; Medicare's "donut hole" with a possible conspiracy to eliminate the old/feeble- "the expendables"; science/universe/aliens; massive unemployment with a possible agenda behind no more unemployment extensions after 26 weeks (I am a professional, I have a Master's Degree in a specialized field- I have not been able to find a full time or part time job since August 2012); lies about the real unemployment rate.
I can't wait to hear from you to learn as well as to contribute.
Best Regards,
devildogmom

Originally posted by Maxatoria
Given a certain viewpoint I'm sure quite a few of those points would of been obvious at the time as 1970 isn't as technologically backward time as a lot of us think

I was going to say the same thing.... 1969 isnt exactly 100 years ago!

Originally posted by adjensen
reply to post by abeverage

 

Wait...where is my flying car?

Blame it on selfish prigs like Dante...

Nice find, OP, will have to look that one up, though a lot of it definitely could be foreseen. I remember telling someone that China would be the new "enemy" back in the early 80s.

I'm making a Sy Fy prediction....Jason Mewes is still alive. In spite of the long running rumors that he is dead.

And I'm set to prove that Jason is still alive and kicking....at least as of this writing.


Not according to the Mewes News:

'Cult film actor Jason Mewes is alive and well, easing fears that he was dead. Mewes, who played the long-haired, drug-loving Jay in Kevin Smith's Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma and Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back, was reportedly on the run - an arrest warrant had been issued for him after he violated probation on a heroin conviction - or even feared dead after his friends told the Chicago Sun-Times they hadn't seen him in 10 months. But last month, Mewes made an appearance at a film festival in Malibu to promote his new indie movie Rsvp, and he'll host a talent show on October 17 at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Mewes' agent Nancy Oeswein chuckles, "The rumors of his death are greatly exaggerated. I just got off the phone with him. He's certainly not in hiding. He just moved to LA."'


Read more: I heard from someone that Jason Mewes is dead. is this true? i sure as hell hope not. | Answerbag www.answerbag.com...

Originally posted by elevenaugust
This is really an odd story that begun back in 1969 when a popular sci-fi novelist, John Brunner, wrote one of his famous book called "Stand On Zanzibar".

What is interesting in this old novel is that it has many very similar events (political, economical...), characters and technology progress as those nowadays.

Stand on Zanzibar is set in the year 2010, and this allows us to make a point-by-point comparison and marvel at novelist John Brunner’s uncanny ability to anticipate the shape of the world to come. Indeed, his vision of the year 2010 even includes a popular leader named President Obomi.

Here are some of these incredible predictions:

(1) Random acts of violence by crazy individuals, often taking place at schools, plague society in Stand on Zanzibar.

(2) The other major source of instability and violence comes from terrorists, who are now a major threat to U.S. interests, and even manage to attack buildings within the United States.

(3) Prices have increased sixfold between 1960 and 2010 because of inflation. (The actual increase in U.S. prices during that period was sevenfold, but Brunner was close.)

(4) The most powerful U.S. rival is no longer the Soviet Union, but China. However, much of the competition between the U.S. and Asia is played out in economics, trade, and technology instead of overt warfare.

(5) Europeans have formed a union of nations to improve their economic prospects and influence on world affairs. In international issues, Britain tends to side with the U.S., but other countries in Europe are often critical of U.S. initiatives.

(6) Africa still trails far behind the rest of the world in economic development, and Israel remains the epicenter of tensions in the Middle East.

(7) Although some people still get married, many in the younger generation now prefer short-term hookups without long-term commitment.

(8) Gay and bisexual lifestyles have gone mainstream, and pharmaceuticals to improve sexual performance are widely used (and even advertised in the media).

(9) Many decades of affirmative action have brought blacks into positions of power, but racial tensions still simmer throughout society.

(10) Motor vehicles increasingly run on electric fuel cells. Honda (primarily known as a motorcycle manufacturers when Brunner wrote his book) is a major supplier, along with General Motors.

(11) Yet Detroit has not prospered, and is almost a ghost town because of all the shuttered factories. However. a new kind of music — with an uncanny resemblance to the actual Detroit techno movement of the 1990s — has sprung up in the city.

(12) TV news channels have now gone global via satellite.

(13) TiVo-type systems allow people to view TV programs according to their own schedule.

(14) Inflight entertainment systems on planes now include video programs and news accessible on individual screens at each seat.

(15) People rely on avatars to represent themselves on video screens — Brunner calls these images, which either can look like you or take on another appearance you select — “Mr. and Mrs. Everywhere.”

(16) Computer documents are generated with laser printers.

(17) A social and political backlash has marginalized tobacco, but marijuana has been decriminalized.

I particularly like this sentence from the writer, Ted Gioia:

Certainly, there are many details, large and small, that Brunner got wrong. But even when the particulars don’t ring true, the overarching theme of Stand on Zanzibar, which is the hidden cost of our obsession with human perfectibility, is just as relevant today as when Brunner wrote his novel.

edit on 9-4-2013 by elevenaugust because: (no reason given)

i really wouldn't call this impressive, a lof the things he talked about are inevitable outcomes of the time he lived in.
as someone pointed out, some of those things like the EU were around in his time, so how that is a prediction is beyond me.
the computer stuff? many writers expected things like that in the future, they expected video phones by now, what is impressive about guessing about avatars in online games? they had games on computers in 1969 after all.

i watched a video from 1920 that talks about modern aircraft but is no where near what we have now. this isn't a list of predictions, so much as guessing at trends stemming from his own time.

Originally posted by TruthxIsxInxThexMist

Originally posted by Maxatoria
Given a certain viewpoint I'm sure quite a few of those points would of been obvious at the time as 1970 isn't as technologically backward time as a lot of us think

I was going to say the same thing.... 1969 isnt exactly 100 years ago!

how about 150 years

THE MAN WHO INVENTED THE FUTURE: JULES VERNE by Franz Born
er.jsc.nasa.gov...
The Few Men that Predicted Ideas and Became a Reality

Jules Verne:
Science Fiction Technology and Ideas
www.technovelgy.com...



Arthur C. Clarke:
Science Fiction Technology and Ideas
www.technovelgy.com...

Became a fiction becomes fact
Newspad
A notebook-sized computer and display screen for reading news stories or other text matter.

think this item is an accurate prediction of the Tablet PC, as well as the current use of PDAs and notebook-sized computers. As usual, Clarke gives us a great sense of how the artifact is used by the people of 2001.

www.technovelgy.com...

iPad concept in movie 2001 (HD Close-Up Shot)


WOW !!! in 1964 Arthur Clarke Predictions!! Some Came Factually True !!!
and becoming into Civilization type 1

BBC Horizon (1964) with Arthur C. Clarke (Part 1 of 2)
www.youtube.com...

BBC Horizon (1964) with Arthur C. Clarke (Part 2 of 2)
www.youtube.com...


Early Science Fiction Concepts
er.jsc.nasa.gov...

Frank Herbert predicted we would become ever involved as being a consumerist controlled society which would be in love with its technology, both as a political form of control, sold to the public initially as solutions to health issues and other positive aspects, get them inured and distracted by its entertainment purposes. Then it would eventually move into the area of which it becomes so advanced, there would be an AI built which would become sentient, hooking up a very powerful network, using all the computers people had in their homes and businesses, and it took over the running of society, business, medical, law enforcement, banking, finance, etc.

Eventually there was a war between what people were still considered human (they had a test for this, in fact), and this AI emperor. The war lasted many years.

That was the situation at the beginning of "the Dune Trilogy." But he also had books dealing with genetic engineering, producing consciousness through a computer, cloning, and brain/tech interfaces callled wetworks.

Sounds like the author made some pretty good educated guesses and got lucky with the President's name. Still, interesting.

In the eighties I read a lot of sci-fi from the 50's & 60's in which the tech seemed magical, but now has either come to pass or is likely to.

John Milton : The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed, But swoln with wind and the rank mist they draw, Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread: Besides what the grim wolf with privy paw Daily devours apace, and nothing said; But that two-handed engine at the door Stands ready to smite once, and smite no more.


The Sheep Look Up: A Book of Environmental Disaster
by [email protected]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Page 1 of 1

John Brunner

Plot Summary:
In the not too distant future the earth has started to plunge into environmental disaster. Based on the lives of over a dozen characters, Brunner follows as Americans come to realize they are on the verge of an apocolypse. The story climaxes with the break down of the U.S. and the beginning of civil war between the government and the environmentally concious populance.

www.sffworld.com...

Would like to read that book btw anyone saw this movie from the 30ts Things to come..yes its a full movie based on H.G Wells novel.it predicted world wars global destruction even a scene that looked like a nuclear bomb,but humanity was saved by fly boys who rebuild civilization and defeat war lords by non lethal weapons built super highways T.Vs and our first trip to the moon in the yr 2000..pls take time to watch totality enjoyable this was how grandma and great grandpa may have saw the future which is today.