Which would be a bigger shock from a technology standpoint, 2000 to 1950 or 1950 to 1900?

[RandomPoster]

Imagine a family with young boy from a rural area and a middle class background in the year 2000 was transferred to the year 1950. Another rural, middle class family with a young boy was transferred from 1950 to the year 1900. Which boy would get a bigger culture shock from a technology standpoint?

In 1900, no cars, no electricity, no television, no radio, no home phone, no airplanes. Horse and buggy, newspapers, and letters in the mail.

In 1950, no home computers at all, man had never been to the moon, and all the previously mentioned technologies such as cars, planes etc. were at the stage of a 1950s clunker, a 1950s passenger plane etc.

I'm leaning towards 1950 to 1900 being a bigger technology shock.

 

[shockedcanadian]

I've thought about this before, I think the future along society becomes, the more insanely outlandish the technology will be pushed. Especially with a global economy and rapid, continual updated/shared information. In the 1901, you would have a select group of nerds working on a problem, all secretive and with exclusive access.

Today you have open source, online instant problem solving with literally access by billions if they had the knowledge and interest in the subject matter.

Thus, I say the changes to our world from 1950-2000 are more shocking than from 1900-1950. Really if not for WW2, the technological changes from 1900-1950 don't seem as impressive to me. Though lifestyle did change quite alot, as it always does.

I suggest that in 2050, the differences from 2000 will be even more profound. The concepts such as the internet and global communication might have been solved already, but where it will be taken will blow the minds of those around to see it Im sure.

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

How rural do you mean?

1950 to 1900 by far.

In 2000 to 1950, there are still cars, TVs, jet aircraft, electricity, movies, telephones, plastics, supermarkets etc., and technology was entering an age of exponential advancement.

 

[shockedcanadian]

How rural do you mean?

1950 to 1900 by far.

In 2000 to 1950, there are still cars, TVs, jet aircraft, electricity, movies, telephones, plastics, supermarkets etc., and technology was entering an age of exponential advancement.

But the changes from 1950 to 2000 to me were far more profound and humanity shifting. Stuff of Sci-Fi and beyond our imagination. Man on the moon? Satellites? The internet, which in itself might be the single greatest technology that shrunk the world and generated millions of more ideas via sharing. Maybe lifestyles changed more drastically from 1900-1950, but technology has improved leaps and bounds.

From the internet alone spawned millions of ideas and conveniences. We have rapid ordering from home and delivery, speech operated technologies, online access from appliances, cars, watches, along with millions of apps.

From 2000-2050, as much as we don't see it now, the movement is enormous, and it will continue in my opinion. Seeing it in real time makes it appear slower I suppose, but when we look back from the starting period, there are dramatic changes.

 

[RandomPoster]

How rural do you mean?

1950 to 1900 by far.

In 2000 to 1950, there are still cars, TVs, jet aircraft, electricity, movies, telephones, plastics, supermarkets etc., and technology was entering an age of exponential advancement.

Not hillbilly rural, except maybe a town of 1,000 people at least 100 miles away from a major metropolis.

One thing is travel. Instead of riding a horse to the nearest train station and riding a train to Boston and then taking a boat to Europe, it would be driving a 1950 Chevy 100 miles to an airport and then flying on a Douglass CT-109 to Europe. Also, news would be newspapers and long distance communication would be letters.

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

How rural do you mean?

1950 to 1900 by far.

In 2000 to 1950, there are still cars, TVs, jet aircraft, electricity, movies, telephones, plastics, supermarkets etc., and technology was entering an age of exponential advancement.

But the changes from 1950 to 2000 to me were far more profound and humanity shifting. Stuff of Sci-Fi and beyond our imagination. Man on the moon? Satellites? The internet, which in itself might be the single greatest technology that shrunk the world and generated millions of more ideas via sharing. Maybe lifestyles changed more drastically from 1900-1950, but technology has improved leaps and bounds.

From the internet alone spawned millions of ideas and conveniences. We have rapid ordering from home and delivery, speech operated technologies, online access from appliances, cars, watches, along with millions of apps.

From 2000-2050, as much as we don't see it now, the movement is enormous, and it will continue in my opinion. Seeing it in real time makes it appear slower I suppose, but when we look back from the starting period, there are dramatic changes.

True. Drag a kid from 1950 to something as simple as the movies today, to the Avengers or Star Wars or Avatar, and you'd have to wrap him in a wet sheet after the film to calm him down.

But going back from high tech to 'no tech' would be a greater shock than going back to 'less tech'.

When I was very short, people said we would never go into space, that it was all a pipe dream, a matter of fiction. I didn't believe them.

Then I remember reading The Evening Star newspaper (DC) with Yuri Gagarin under the masthead, and feeling totally vindicated.

 

[shockedcanadian]

How rural do you mean?

1950 to 1900 by far.

In 2000 to 1950, there are still cars, TVs, jet aircraft, electricity, movies, telephones, plastics, supermarkets etc., and technology was entering an age of exponential advancement.

But the changes from 1950 to 2000 to me were far more profound and humanity shifting. Stuff of Sci-Fi and beyond our imagination. Man on the moon? Satellites? The internet, which in itself might be the single greatest technology that shrunk the world and generated millions of more ideas via sharing. Maybe lifestyles changed more drastically from 1900-1950, but technology has improved leaps and bounds.

From the internet alone spawned millions of ideas and conveniences. We have rapid ordering from home and delivery, speech operated technologies, online access from appliances, cars, watches, along with millions of apps.

From 2000-2050, as much as we don't see it now, the movement is enormous, and it will continue in my opinion. Seeing it in real time makes it appear slower I suppose, but when we look back from the starting period, there are dramatic changes.

True. Drag a kid from 1950 to something as simple as the movies today, to the Avengers or Star Wars or Avatar, and you'd have to wrap him in a wet sheet after the film to calm him down.

But going back from high tech to 'no tech' would be a greater shock than going back to 'less tech'.

When I was very short, people said we would never go into space, that it was all a pipe dream, a matter of fiction. I didn't believe them.

Then I remember reading The Evening Star newspaper (DC) with Yuri Gagarin under the masthead, and feeling totally vindicated.

I think of watching the Jetsons as a kid and it was out of this world. By my middle ages most of it is here.

People can wake up, pull out their tablet and make a million dollars (or thousands) in a stock trade in a matter of minutes. All by themselves and their technology. Ditto for placing a sports bet, playing online poker, getting donations from strangers etc.

The internet spawned a great deal of the crazy humanity shifting conveniences we see. I've seen and read of young guys (as I played a great deal of poker) who would win or lose millions in a day playing poker, known some who have made or lost thousands. No regard for money. It's easy come, easy go, the way of the fast paced internet and lifestyle views.

It's not nearly as crazy as the world was in the year 2000 with all the wrong headed exuberance of online businesses, but the world is still very different and life can change far more rapidly than in the past.

 

[farmer]

Old guy next farm over was born in 1913 (he could remember when Lindyou made it ) always said progress was steady til we put a man on the moon. Then he said life just got faster and faster . For a lot of rural people the changes from 1950 to 2000 were way more drastic.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

Old guy next farm over was born in 1913 (he could remember when Lindyou made it ) always said progress was steady til we put a man on the moon. Then he said life just got faster and faster . For a lot of rural people the changes from 1950 to 2000 were way more drastic.

I agree. I came off of Farms and Ranches in the Rockies. Not a whole lot changed from 1900 to 1950 with the exception of transportation. Instead of moving our steers by rail, we moved them by trucks to the lower elevations and feed lots. But other than that, the Horse was still the main transportation for the Ranch due to the terrain and certainly the most widely used tool. Those working ranches are gone now being replaced by Rich People from Large Cities that own them just so they can wear a cowboy hat to a board meeting and claim to be a cowboy. The day of the High Country Ranch died out in only 3 or 4 short years in the late 70s. The day of the Feedlot from birth to steak was already started in the 1950s.

 

[farmer]

I spent a lot of time soaking all the stories from all the old timers ,it was fascinating and I gained knowledge . To this day my wife will still ask me how did you know that and I tell her I heard it from so and so. The best thing is all I had to do was listen and maybe ask a question or two. Plus it trained my mind to remember.

 

[Shrimpbox]

1950 to 2000 we landed a man on the moon for God’s sake.

 

[RandomPoster]

I was a child in the 70s. To me, going back nearly 50 years would not seem that big of a technological shift other than computers, game consoles, and the internet. Also, as big as the space program and the moon landings in 1969 were, they are basically irrelevant to everyday life. From my point of view, trading in a Station Wagon for a Ford Focus doesn't seem that mind blowing and either does trading in a 70s TV for a modern cable television with a hundred channels on and nothing to watch. I fear that we might be stagnating and feel that maybe we need to reconnect with our obsession over technological progress.

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

How rural do you mean?

1950 to 1900 by far.

In 2000 to 1950, there are still cars, TVs, jet aircraft, electricity, movies, telephones, plastics, supermarkets etc., and technology was entering an age of exponential advancement.

But the changes from 1950 to 2000 to me were far more profound and humanity shifting. Stuff of Sci-Fi and beyond our imagination. Man on the moon? Satellites? The internet, which in itself might be the single greatest technology that shrunk the world and generated millions of more ideas via sharing. Maybe lifestyles changed more drastically from 1900-1950, but technology has improved leaps and bounds.

From the internet alone spawned millions of ideas and conveniences. We have rapid ordering from home and delivery, speech operated technologies, online access from appliances, cars, watches, along with millions of apps.

From 2000-2050, as much as we don't see it now, the movement is enormous, and it will continue in my opinion. Seeing it in real time makes it appear slower I suppose, but when we look back from the starting period, there are dramatic changes.

True. Drag a kid from 1950 to something as simple as the movies today, to the Avengers or Star Wars or Avatar, and you'd have to wrap him in a wet sheet after the film to calm him down.

But going back from high tech to 'no tech' would be a greater shock than going back to 'less tech'.

When I was very short, people said we would never go into space, that it was all a pipe dream, a matter of fiction. I didn't believe them.

Then I remember reading The Evening Star newspaper (DC) with Yuri Gagarin under the masthead, and feeling totally vindicated.

I think of watching the Jetsons as a kid and it was out of this world. By my middle ages most of it is here.

Yup. Here's Rosie the Robot Maid.

 

[Shrimpbox]

And I hear she likes older men.