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190 years ago a guy had a nightmare about the 21st Century
As the second decade of the 21st century ends weβre reminded of a fascinating archival find: a man in 1830 recounting a nightmare about life in the 2000s, triggered by a dystopian poem - Lord Byrons βDarknessβ - read to him by a friend.
The nightmare began with the protagonist appearing in his rural childhood home, when suddenly in a flash it is replaced with an industrial hellcape where vegetables were extinct and yet to be invented flying machines glided overhead:
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Baldness was common in women thanks to modern travel speeds.
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Animals were extinct and carriages? Horseless and driverless!
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(this pre-dates the current official first use of βdriverlessβ)
Disposable automaton workmen built skyscrapers. He refers to them as βmodern prometheusesβ no doubt referencing the subtitle of Mary Shellyβs 1818 βFrankensteinβ, a novel that still shapes conversations about the future today:
"π·πππ π ππ ππππ ππ ππππ π πππ πππππππ ππ πππ πππ πΆππππ πππππ, π ππππππ ππππππππππππ "ππ πππππππππ ππ ππππππππππππ."
His reaction to this world of technological progress? Horror.
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The man entered a hotel, what he found within was a steam powered dystopia:
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In the hotel he picked up a newspaper littered with new steam related terms he could not understand. So he picked up a dictionary.
βπΈ ππππππ ππππ π ππππππ ππππππππππ’ πππ ππππ πππππ ππππ πππππ ππππππππ πππ πππ ππππ ππ‘ππππ ππππππππ ππ πππππππππππ ππππ ππβ¦β
Horse, s. an animation of which but little is now known. Old writers affirm there were at one time several thousands in this country.β
βTree, s. Vegetable production; once plentiful in these parts, and still to be found in remote districts.β
βTranquility, s. Obsolete; an unnatural state of existence, to which the ancients were very partial.β
βπΈπ πππππππ πΈ πππππ πππ π πππ ππππ πππ ππππππ πππ ππ πππ πππππ.β
He made his way to a theater production of Hamlet, the cast all being steam powered automatons. He said it was better than any other purpose which he had seen steam applied (until Hamlet exploded) so he fled the theatre.
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He awoke, relieved. Got up and went to his window to see a comforting sight: a horse drawn carriage.
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As we enter the third decade of the 21st Century let us reflect on how much better life is now than in 1830 and how catastrophizing about new technologies is as silly and shortsighted now as it was 190 years ago.
Happy new year!