Acid Rain
Nuclear Holocaust
When I was a kid in the 80s those were both largely predicted to happen in the near future, yet neither has materialized. To be fair, it would be more accurate to say that these events have largely been avoided, rather than erroneously predicted. These predictions were based on the scientific understanding and geopolitical situations of their times, serving as warnings of plausible futures if no action was taken. Action was taken, and so far, they’ve been avoided.
Also, Flying Cars and Hoverboards were both predicted to be in widespread use by now. So far, neither has panned out as predicted, although those would be cool and aren’t really stupid.
EDIT: Ok I just remembered another one.
In 1997 The "Heaven's Gate" cult believed that the comet Hale-Bopp was an alien spacecraft and predicted it would take them to a higher level of existence. That didn't work out too well for them.
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Kowalski (79077)
a year ago
In 1997 The "Heaven's Gate" cult believed that the comet Hale-Bopp was an alien spacecraft and predicted it would take them to a higher level of existence. That didn't work out too well for them.
OR....MAYBE IT DID.🤫
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VinceD (10408)
a year ago
Hmmm….higher-level of existence? I mean, considering what happened…maybe?
But it definitely wasn’t a 🚀
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VinceD (10408)
a year ago
I think I just remembered another one.
Didn’t people use to say that California was going to sink into the ocean, or become an island? Or something like that?
That definitely didn’t come true.
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Kowalski (79077)
a year ago
ESCAPE FROM LA RAN WITH THAT NOTION....MY GRANDMOTHER WAS CONVINCED AN EARTHQUAKE WOULE END UP CLIPPING US OFF AND SINKING US DOWN.
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VinceD (10408)
a year ago
Yeah I think it was the earthquake thing lol.
I saw that movie in theaters opening night. I need to rewatch it.
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Kowalski (79077)
a year ago
SNAKE SURFS WITH PETER FONDA AND HANG GLIDES WITH PAM GRIER PLAYING A TRANS....WHAT MORE NEEDS TO BE SAID?...IT'S FUCKING GREAT!
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123Guy (7838)
a year ago
Wasn't there a little bit of polluted rains that happened for a while in larger polluted cities? Thus creating the name acid rains? I recall the issue, but not how wide spread it was.
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VinceD (10408)
a year ago
I think rain becoming more acidic did happen in some parts of the world, but nothing like they were predicting.
There were people claiming we would all be walking around in haz-mat suits and carrying special umbrellas every time we went outdoors by the year 2000.
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MaximRecoil (4846)
a year ago
"Also, Flying Cars and Hoverboards were both predicted to be in widespread use by now."
Flying cars are what kids imagined we'd have in the future after watching The Jetsons or whatever. I'd be surprised if anyone with any credibility predicted they'd be in widespread use by now. A flying car is obviously an aircraft, and while they may hand out driver's licenses like candy, they don't do that with pilot's licenses. And imagine the air traffic control nightmare when you have hundreds of millions of cars flying around in the US alone.
Making a flying car is easy; they have existed for many decades; but safely integrating them into society as everyday transportation is far from easy. If it ever happens they will all be computer-controlled.
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