General Cycling Discussion - Future shock

What will they say about us 100 years from now?

I have thought of this many times....I wish I could live for 100 more years to find out!

...assuming we don't self-destruct first?
:(

They will probably look at us in the same way we look back 100 years. Our clothes, our technology, our way of life will seem a bit primitive. But I would also suspect that there will be some form of bicycle still around made from some exotic material still unknown to us now.

Speaking as a historian here...

They probably won't speak about us at all, at least not in much detail. For one thing, the lives of all but the most exceptional people are historically ephemeral. They'll talk about the economy and technological change, of course, and the great fear that gripped the West during the half-century-long, escalating conflict with the Islamic world that began with the 911 attacks. They'll talk about changes of worldview and the reevaluation of some basic tenets of democracy... But they won't talk about us.

A century is not a long time in history. The basic patterns of people's lives don't change that quickly. We could all probably adjust and live relatively comfortably, much as we do now, were we to find ourselves in 1902. Besides, that's not what historians talk about.

Originally posted by KleinMp99
I have thought of this many times....I wish I could live for 100 more years to find out!
KleinMP99,
nah you can easily live to be 100 with your exercise, and good health youcan to live to be 100, I was riding the bike this morning, on my way home from work, I was daydreaming, I said Have so much thing to do, like Want to ride my bike everyday, spend quality time with my son Miguel, go travel but No I can't why I am trap in this world like Have to work to keep body and soul together:cry: :cry: :cry:

My thought was that our generation might be viewed as overly wasteful of non-renewable resources.

Originally posted by LittleBigMan
My thought was that our generation might be viewed as overly wasteful of non-renewable resources.
I think I just read it in one of the newspaper about how wastefull we are specially the people living in North America, Like the population is like 1/3 of the world population but we are spending our energy like 5 times the world over is spending the energy

orguasch,

Don't tell me you are surprised. We are spending our natural resources much more than we can actually afford. They say we don't inherit Earth from our ancestors, but rather we burrow it from the future generations.

in that case, we are very bad at taking care of something we have burrowed.

What they'll think of us 100 years from now? I can only imagine that kids in class rooms will gasp in shock and disgust as they watch a documentary on life of North Americans 100 years ago.

I think everyone is overstating our importance here...

First of all, "generation" is not a category that historians habitually use, and it's not one that appears in histoy texts. Can any of you say anything concrete about the "generation of 1900?" The terms does come up when a particularly demographic cohort is involved in a pivotal historical event. For example, historians will talk about "the generation of the American Revolution" or "the generation of 1914." Sad to say, none of us are involved in any pivotal events, and if "the generation of 2002" ever appears in historical journals, it'll probably be a reference to Islamic militants.

As for our depletion of natural resources, this is something thst has been going on since the end of the 19th century. We are not special in this regard, only part of a contiuum.

I agree with most of what I see in previous posts. I do feel it is necessary to save the planet (after all, we need somewhere to store the nuclear waste!).:D

Maybe they will look back and say, "life was simpler and much better back then," as they rub on their SPF 1000.

I agree with velocipedio "us" won't be thought of or talked about except in the most general of terms. Just as we look back to specific Decades and give them a catch-all name like "The Flappers" or "The Hippie Generation" or some other epithet. "Us" won't even make a footnote in some future scholars thesis.

For those of you who want to live another century there's a new book out --just reviewed in this mornings paper-- titled, "Control For Life Extension: A personalized Holistic Approach" by Valery Mamonov. He has traveled around the world an interviewed Centenarians about lifestyles, heredity. . .to find if there are some common factors.
Looks to be an interesting read; but it comes with a disclaimer that "the book is solely for informational or educational purposes..."

I wonder if the disclaimer is to prevent future lawsuits by survivors of a deceased family member who followed the instructions but didn't reach the goal of 100+ years?

At the dawn of the next century, the history of bicycle technology will be almost twice as long as it is now. I wonder which developments, components, and materials of the past century will still be recognized as significant historical advances then.

Bud,
as long as the same people at UCI are in charge the bike frame are going to be the same, coz, these people doesn't want to grow with the time