The Tactile Past Ep. 2 “Predictions"

 Poor Predictions and Shaky Science

Well humans are motivated in a limited number of ways but the easiest, probably, is fear. So we brush aside all the fanfare and listen intently to what scientists all over the world are saying and we believe them, yet in time, those predictions simply fail to materialize.

 

Oil

None of the predictions made in the 70’s or 80’s came to pass. The first cataclysm we could expect, we were told, was for the world to run out of oil. We’re using far too much gas for it to last very long, they said. Countries which didn't have oil panicked and started stockpiling and striking deals with shady governments to proactively head off any sudden world-running-out-of-oil scenarios and all the chaos and ruin that would bring.

Population

The next major catastrophe, we were told, was the population explosion. If things carry on like this, in the merrily exponential manner which typifies life, the world will be overrun with people and we won’t be able to feed all of them. We should expect Africa and Asia to encounter massive famines on account of all the tens of millions of people being born every day and not as many farms being made to compensate. It's strictly a numbers thing.

Mobility Tech

One good thing, they said, was that we could expect flying cars running on solar and personal jet packs and also personal bots to live our lives for us. We can spend weekends shopping for a robo-dog to go with the new robo-dog-walker that came with the flying car and on the way home, the robo-dog will solve complicated equations in loud, robotic monotones.

Sea level

The next big threat to mankind's existence, say the scientists, will be the rising sea levels owing to all the ice melting in the arctic. At this rate the polar caps will be gone in decades and every coastal city will be consumed by the ocean. Plus, the cities could sink because they're heavy.

Entertainment Tech

On the bright side.. LCD looks promising but the future is, without doubt, holograms. We’re going to have lasers everywhere showing us 3D shows in the air, or direct to our brains, and *finally* they make some half-decent sci fi using biofeedback and brain pattern recognition. Still.. 3D eh? 3D! Science fiction baby!

Nukes

Nukes. If you have nukes but never use them, that's the same as not having nukes. Why get us all excited then? Ayy.

The Tactile Past I: The Tickey

 

A "Tickey" was a 2 ½ cent coin from Rhodesia.

 I recall the pervasive parking meter. In the city, every street-level parking bay had a mechanical timer; you would feed the coins into the device, crank the handle (like a gumball machine) and it would show how much parking time you had left. When the time ran out a little red flag would swing into view, saying “EXPIRED” and attracting the meter maid, looking to fine anyone parked in an expired bay. The system today, unbelievably, is even more awkward.

What was unusual, I think, was that we had a coin specifically for this one purpose. The coin was a ‘tickey’, 2 ½ cents (formerly threepence) and it was tiny ~ so small, in fact, that they were easy to find by touch alone. Outside of parking meters, the tickey seemed to have no purpose.

 

The coins I experienced were decimal but these here show the conversion – threepence (3d) to 2 ½ cents, sixpence (6d) to 5 cents, a shilling (1/-) to 10 cents, a florin (2/-) to 20 cents and a half crown (2/6) to 25 cents. 

The largest bill in print, lol, was ten dollars, the equivalent of 20 pounds sterling.