Jules Verne > Star Trek

Bearman Cartoons Jules Verne Predicts better than Star TrekSo there was a recent meme going around the social media spheres that applauded Star Trek for predicting our current technology.  Here it is (anyone know the original source, I would be happy to credit)

Star Trek Predictions

 

If you talk to Engineers and scientists of today, many will tell you that they were inspired to be what they are today because of watching Star Trek as a kid.  In fact it isn’t a stretch to think that these same fans would utilize design framework from the series/movies.  But of course my cynical humor nerve focuses in on the word “prediction”.

So I looked back and could have picked any number of 19th/early 20th Century authors like Mark Twain predicting the internet or H.G. Wells (and Dick Tracy’s) wrist phones which are much like our modern day cell phones.   But I chose Jules Verne who predicted things like the lunar space program and even many of the things that actually came true (launched from Florida, splash down in the ocean, 3 man crew, etc).  He also, much like the Star Trek meme showcases, predicted videoconferencing.  The bane of all our work existence.

Any sci fi technology you are still waiting for (except of course the flying car – we all want that)?

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45 Responses to “Jules Verne > Star Trek”

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  1. It’s not a “stretch” to think they used the framework — a lot of the biologists, chemists, engineers, and designers who shaped modern technology outright admit it. The designer of the first flip-phone said he never would have had the idea if not for the communicators from the original Star Trek. Additionally, a lot of the technologies developed by NASA since its inception were directly inspired by the works of Arthur C. Clarke, and modern software engineers are still pulling inspiration from the works of Robert A. Heinlein (who, among other things, accurately predicted computer drafting software in his novel “The Door Into Summer”).

    But that extends back to Jules Verne, as well — a lot of the scientists who led the revolutions in technology in the 2-3 generations after Verne would talk openly about the influence his novels had on their work. They used his ideas as a blueprint for where they wanted to take the world.

    As a genre, science fiction has always been filled with people who had very clear ideas about the way the future was heading — which, in turn, have inspired the people who could take us there. The line between prediction and inspiration gets blurrier the closer you look.

    • Absolutely. But as I even read some of Verne’s predictions he too was inspired by others. He was just a good observer of the technology that was available at the day and could expound on it for his books.

      Then again for every right prediction they guys get they probably had 2 wrong. haha

  2. George Ford says:

    I’m still awaiting my shot at driving a hovercraft and being able to teleport, but for now, I’m doing okay with all of these helpful technologies.

  3. I think this is George Takei’s photo. Not sure, though, the credit was given on FB 😉

  4. Comedy Plus says:

    You think it and someone will make it. It’s just the way things go. This is an awesome post.

    Have a fabulous day. 🙂

  5. lisleman says:

    The “Simpsons” predicted smart ass kids. Oh wait those have been around even before I was born. First time with the new spiffy comment system here.

  6. David Hurley says:

    Yes, so let’s stop all the wars and fighting and get up in space!

  7. Tony McGurk says:

    It’s amazing to consider all this stuff. I’m extremely disappointed in the Jetsons as I’m still waiting for a flying car. I also wanna be beamed up by Scotty.

  8. Bill Murphy says:

    The best thing I can do is time travel.
    I go to sleep and wake up several hours into the future. 😉

  9. The power to read your mind.

  10. Binky says:

    Much of SF predicts the future, and that has always been part of its attraction. Jules Verne certainly was ahead of the pack, though, writing before SF even existed. I guess he could be considered the father of it.

    Flying car, robot servants, androids, self driving transportation, moon vacations, space flight, extraterrestrial living (orbiting space stations), smart computers, effective, efficient governments.

  11. It’s always fun to look at concept art about the future… I have a small collection of picture books from the 50’s about what space travel will look like… some got it close to right… others… not so much!

  12. Jules is somewhere in the future with a giant underwater city dome.

  13. Christina says:

    Great toon! I always thought it would be a cool job to be a futurist designing movie concepts. Minority Report had some great stuff that is coming to fruition. They had several futurists working on its design.

  14. Andro says:

    I wonder what science fiction think tanks will come up with next, and therefore something that will soon surface in reality? Perhaps the future really is meant to be backwards, as in Back to the Future, Today and Tomorrow, Jules Verne was a genius, a man way ahead of his time but how exciting a life that must have been my fine and wicked friend, and for the future, well we will just have to wait and see 🙂

    Have a superb Friday Bearman 🙂

    Andro



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