10 predictions from the past about what 2020 should be like

People like to look into the future. Soothsayers voiced what came in visions, and non-mystical individuals fantasized about this topic. If we remember how our ancestors saw the future, then we have to live with one toe, without money and with robots.

The RAND Corporation announced 25 years ago that in 2020, all manual work will be performed not by humans, but by monkeys. Specially trained animals were supposed to become drivers of vehicles, cleaners, porters, etc. After the statement, the corporation began to actively train orangutans, but the attempt was unsuccessful. The animals, of course, learned something, but they couldn't drive cars.

At the beginning of the XX century, the surgeon Richard Lucas, who conducts lectures at the Medical College of England, made an interesting assumption: because of the uselessness of a person's toes will grow together. The foot will have one thumb. Such "transformations" were to be completed by the beginning of the XXI century. Lucas assured that all people will get rid of 5 toes by 2020. I wonder if the shoes would have changed in this regard?

Technology expert Michael J. O'Farrell in his work "Shift 2020" made an assumption that was not destined to come true. The scientist announced that in 2020 there will be a period when people will begin to communicate using telepathy, and teleportation will be used for scientific purposes.

Getting information quickly has always worried humanity. That is why in 1959 it was decided to try to deliver mail using rockets. A submarine called "Barbero", owned by the US Navy, sent letters to a political figure in the amount of 3,000 pieces. The missile's nuclear warhead was replaced with mail containers. The letters were launched, and they successfully reached the Naval air station.

Arthur Summerfield, the chief postmaster of the United States at that time, said that now a letter can be received in a few hours. In his opinion, it was a successful test of fast mail delivery: by 2020, this is the only way people will receive their letters. Unfortunately, Arthur could not even imagine that at present people will be able to get information much faster.

The well-known Time publication in 1966 published an interesting article on its pages called "Futurists". It said that the XXI century is an era of economic recovery. A person will not have to work, and robots will do all the work. Only scientific developments in medicine, science, art, etc. will be required from people.

It was assumed that only those who wish could do science, while everyone else could just live. The average income of a family of 3 people, not burdened with labor, was supposed to be $ 30,000. If you do indexing, then in our time it is already 300,000. It is a pity that the prediction did not come true.

Vogue magazine in 1939 published on its pages the statements of the designer Gilbert Rod. In it, the star of the fashion world talked about what they would wear in 2020. The designer believed that the inhabitants of the Earth would give up collars, pockets and buttons. There will be no ties and other sewing accessories either.Gilbert also suggested that men would stop shaving. And he was also convinced that everyone would wear hats with antennas receiving the radio signal. Unfortunately, in most cases, Rod's predictions did not come true, except that many men began to wear beards.

Gustav Bischoff— president of the Meat Processors Association in the USA, made a statement in 1913. It said that in 2020 people will stop eating meat. This is due to the fact that in 100 years the inhabitants of the planet will lack animals that can be sent to the slaughterhouse. Meat will cost a lot of money, and not everyone will be able to afford to buy it.

In this case, vegetarianism is not a fashionable trend, but actions out of desperation. Nowadays vegetarianism is gaining more and more popularity, that's just not because there is not enough meat, but because many see the killing of animals as a negative.

Nikola Tesla 100 years ago in his interviews often talked about the harm of tea, tobacco and coffee. He was convinced that by 2020, people will realize the harm of these products. It will not be fashionable to use them, since they contain many poisonous ingredients. To some extent, Tesla was right, because smoking is now being increasingly abandoned, but people are unlikely to stop drinking coffee and tea.

Ariana Van de Ven, an expert on global trends, made a statement in the 80s of the last century that in 40 years robots will fully settle next to humans. They will become therapists, companions, friends, housekeepers, drivers. Perhaps it will be so sometime, but for now we have to be content with robot vacuum cleaners, military robots, etc.

8 years ago, Dave Evans, an employee of Cisco Visual Networking, suggested that in 2020 people will be able to predict their future. Working as a futurologist, Dave was sure that it would be quite easy to do this. There will be special machines, thanks to which this will become possible. They will be loaded with special data that allows you to guess the future fate of a person with an accuracy of 90%.