What do you think it will be like 100 years from now? Do you think we will have flying cars, robots to take care of us or perhaps will they rule us? What did people in 1923 think it would be like now?
We have some of those answers thanks to a researcher from the University of Calgary. NPR reports that Paul Fairie compiled newspaper clippings from 1923 with various experts predicting what life would be like in 2023.
Some of those predictions were actually accurate. For example, constant airline traffic . . . the United States topping 300 million people in population . . . and being able to talk to someone in real-time through your wristwatch.
However, the inaccurate ones are more fun to read…
- People will work a max of four hours a day.
The headline for that one was, “No More Hard Work by 2023!” They said electricity would make it possible. (In 1923, less than half of U.S. homes had power.) - No ugly people.
They thought beauty pageants would become obsolete because it would be almost impossible to choose a winner. - Women will paint their teeth black to be fashionable.
Instead, a lot of people whiten their teeth now. - Gasoline will be replaced by radio waves.
So, powering your car by blasting radio waves somehow? - The average life expectancy will be 100 years old . . . and another expert said 300.
The average in the U.S. back then was just 57 years old, and now it’s around 76. The oldest living person is set to turn 119 next month. - Flying from Chicago to Germany will only take 18 hours.
They were too conservative with that one. It’s half that now, around a nine-hour flight. - Cancer will be eradicated.
Not yet, but we’re making pretty good progress. - Homes won’t have kitchens anymore.
That one basically said we’d have ways to make food using, quote, “chemical formulas” and wouldn’t need to cook. We do have Uber Eats and DoorDash though. - Telepathy will exist.
That one said we’d even be able to speak telepathically with babies. - Kidney koozies.
Like beer koozies, but to keep your internal organs warm. Isn’t that just a coat?
By: Buck Stevens
