progress...

Talking about progress

I found this on a website when i was looking for something completely different... it got me thinking and was a perfect time waster for a slow afternoon.

Ponder This:
a person who was alive in 1900 and was suddenly transported to 1950 would be more amazed at the evolution of the world, than a person alive in 1950 transported to the present day

All discovered/invented 1900-1950

TV/Radio
Aeroplane
Rocket
Computers
Relativity
Radioactivity
Quantum Theory S. Tanna

Lets see the big differences (all mostly US centric)
1900:
-Women cannot vote
-Russia is ruled by Czars, Austro-Hungarian, British and Ottoman empires remain
-No world wars have occured
-No nuclear energy
-No computers
-People cannot fly
-Cars barely exist
-Simple diseases kill
-Records exist

1950:
-Women can vote
-Blacks are segregated
-Jews have a state in Israel
-Cold War with Russia, two world wars have occured, nuclear arms race
-Humans can not only fly, but Jets are flying in the military, americans can travel in aircraft
-Cars and freeways are everywhere
-Women still have little role outside the home
-Anti-biotics have been invented, many disease have vacines and/or cures underway
-Computers exist
-TV exists
-Talking Pictures with color exist
-Space travel, while theoretical, has not been accomplished

2000:
-Equal rights for all
-We go to outer space on a routine basis
-Women and minorities are found in positions of wealth and power
-Sex, homosexuality, and mild swearing can be seen and heard on network TV
-No more cold war, or large scale war of any kind
-Computers and internet connect all
-Cars are filled with gizmos but largly unchanged
-Commercial air travel is faster but largely unchanged
-Music can be played without physical media

Didn't exist in 1900, did in 1950:
- mass produced automobiles
- heavier than air flying machines
- atom bomb
- computers
- mass urbanization
- US as superpower

Didn't exist in 1950, did in 2006:
- personal computers
- digital watches
- cell phones
- portable music playing devices
- the internet
- mass suburbanization
- US as sole superpower

As he notes... seems like we're going inwards - from looking to space to bringing the internet to our wristwatches.

Not sure if there's a point to this, it just interested me, so i put it here so i could return to it at a later date and ponder some more.