Raphael ThysOriginally Answered: Back in the 1980s or 70s, what did people back then think the future was going to be like? Was it as pessimistic as the future we’re thinking about?
Certainly in the 1980s people were pretty seriously concerned for the future - and with good reason. Specifically, with two good reasons.
Crime Rate. In the 1980s we saw a continuation of decades of persistent and continual rises in crime rates. People assumed, not unreasonably, that we were inevitably heading towards some kind of Mad Max or Judge Dredd type crime ridden future. In those days you would never walk across Central Park at night. And as far as anyone could tell, it was just going to continue getting worse. Of course we now know that didn’t happen, and crime rates started to fall su
A lawyer with an opinion on everythingAuthor has 8K answers and 79.1M answer views
· 3y
Originally Answered: Back in the 1980s or 70s, what did people back then think the future was going to be like? Was it as pessimistic as the future we’re thinking about?
The 1970s (at least a few years in) were not an optimistic time; the 1980s in the US were optimistic in some senses, but there was still a lot of fear about the present and of future decline. Here are some specific examples:
- The Cold War was an ever-present part of life. Almost no one saw the Soviet Union falling apart until it rapidly began to break up, and that was at the end of the 1980s.
- Watergate led to a precipitous decline in trust towards the government and cynicism became more overt in American life.
- Crime rates were significantly higher than they are today, and Americans became more fea
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70-year-old husband, grandfather, and amateur philosopherAuthor has 25.2K answers and 62.4M answer views
· 3y
Believe it or not the 1960s through the 1970s were society’s most pessimistic years during my lifespan. Many people believed we were on the verge of Armageddon and the end of the world was immanent — especially during the Vietnam War (which I am a veteran of.) It wasn’t until the mid to late 1980s that things started turning around and the general mood started to take an upswing.
My 93-year-old father has a different perspective. He was born at the beginning of the Great Depression and eventually fought in the Pacific theater of World War II against Imperial Japan. He tells me that the 1930s tr
I've been a human being for many years.Author has 2.9K answers and 7.4M answer views
· Nov 12
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Back in the 70s, 80s, or 90s when you were young, did you think that the 21st century would be such a dud?
Dud? Nope.
I have a (by 70s standards) supercomputer that fits in my purse.
I have a car that hasn’t needed its gas tank filled in 2 months. (And I commute 60+ miles daily)
I have instant access to pretty much all of the knowledge of the human race, at my fingertips.
People are having their genome edited to cure debilitating diseases.
This was a computer game when I was young, and it was one of my favorites.
This is a video game now.
Childhood diseases like mumps and chickenpox, once considered inevitable rites of childhood passage, now have vaccines.
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In the 1970s and 80s, people had a wide range of ideas about the future, and these varied from pessimistic to optimistic. Some people were concerned about nuclear war, environmental degradation, and overpopulation, while others were excited about the potential for technological advancements, space exploration, and improved quality of life. Science fiction literature and movies of the time often depicted dystopian futures, but there were also many visions of a utopian society with advanced technology and improved social conditions. Overall, the views on the future were diverse and reflected the
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Former Lecturer of business law and economics (2019–2019)Author has 9.3K answers and 21.3M answer views
· 3y
Originally Answered: Back in the 1980s or 70s, what did people back then think the future was going to be like? Was it as pessimistic as the future we’re thinking about?
There was a flip in the 70s and 80s.
We can see this with media and books at the time.
In school we had books from the 70s. It showed flying cars, moon bases.
In short a technology utopia was envisaged.
Politicians promised this… and failed. We see this with Labour’s new Jerusalem and the promised land.
Politicians society and corporations failed to deliver. Partly because tech wasn't up to it. Partly because they didn't care and wanted profit above all else.
Thos is why we moved to the politics fear model in the western world or rather it got ramped up.
Politicians claimed there was some massive ene
Former Computer/Network Analyst at Auburn University (1985–2016)Author has 1.5K answers and 767.9K answer views
· 3y
I’m wasn’t pessimistic about the future then and I’m not now. Maybe I’m fooling myself, but I think humanity will find solutions to many of our problems.
Studied Audio Recording & Performance at Berklee College of MusicAuthor has 86 answers and 58.7K answer views
· 4y
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What were the 1970s like?
Life was different for sure. Consider that we had no pc’s, no cell phones, no CD’s or DVD’s, no VCR’s, and car phones were rare and huge. No flat screen or cable TV voice mail, or answering machines, and everything was analog. 24 hour stores were rare ((just 7–11 and very few gas stations). Gas was less than $1 per gallon so you could cruise with friends on the weekend. There were still drive-in t
Lives in GermanyAuthor has 74.7K answers and 30.2M answer views
· 3y
The outlook in the 70s and 80s was very negative, both due to pollution and possible nuclear war. I remember reading in the 70s that air would not be breathable at all in major cities in 2000.
The outlook that a nuclear war would happen in the near time was very big in the 80s, I remember a song by Sting called Russians which described the fear of the future quite good or there was the Two Tribes song by FGTH.
Studied Philosophy, Boxing/ Martial arts fan, 80's kid.Author has 241 answers and 73.9K answer views
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How did the 70s and 80s feel to live through compared to today? What was life like then and how was it the same or different from 2018?
- The 80′s was a more idealistic time. The culture was far less cynical than today's and with idealism comes creativity. There was less technology and things moved very slowly, because communication was slower, and the world was less connected. As a kid or teen you had to come up with ways to entertain yourself. There were no cell phones and most kids didn't have their own phone. There was just the family Lan line that your parents didn't let you spend much time on because there was no way to catch missed phone calls then. No internet. MOST house holds didn't even have Cable T.V. for most of the
Former Physical Producer/ VP. U.S,. Movie Corporation- Author has 6.1K answers and 3.3M answer views
· 3y
It depended on your educational and also family background. Many people thought that the future was bright. Others, who were perhaps more circumspect, had begun to realize that there was a lot wrong with many aspects of life. They were perhaps too inclined to believe what those in authority said, was truthful and without an agenda; both political and personal. The Cold War was with us, the potential, imminent nuclear war fear, rising crime, union dis-rest, and many of the usual problems faced by a state.
But in the popular imagination the 1970s in retrospect, were the poor relations, to be lamp
citizen of the 1970s, poet, 6 time Quora Top WriterAuthor has 17.7K answers and 67.5M answer views
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How did the 70s and 80s feel to live through compared to today? What was life like then and how was it the same or different from 2018?
It is extremely difficult to distinguish the times you are living through from your time of life. The decade of the 1970s coincided with my late teens and early twenties—heady years for a young man exploring the world for the first time. It's difficult, but I'll try.
The sun in the 1970s was brighter and the light clearer than today. The air was softer. Colors were more variegated.
It was much cheaper to live well, and it was easier therefore to take chances and "roll the dice" on life choices. Not quite as easy and cheap a time to experiment as the 1960s but still economically friendlier to non