Predictions for the future has always been a favourite pasttime for many – it’s a practice dating back to at least the time of Nostradamus. As we’re at the beginning of 2023, here are some predictions for this year, made by newspapers way back in 1923. Some of these are eerily true – at least in the direction they’re going rather than the accuracy. So what did they predict for us this year?
The work day will be four hours long
The industrial revolution has seen workplace hours increase, but in the last few years or so, companies seem to have reduced working hours. Well, only to a 4-day work week, not 4 hours a day. Then again, if you’re a contract worker, you could be working 4 hours a day. The prediction for this is thanks to none other than… electricity. Well, technically, it’s true because in Singapore, we can’t live without electricity.
Gasoline will be replaced by radio
While we’re far from having radio-powered airplanes, electric buses have been recharged by radio waves for a while now. And soon, we’ll see electric cars getting charged wirelessly via the same method.
Everyone will be beautiful
While they don’t specifically mention the reason everyone will be beautiful, they probably haven’t heard of cosmetic surgery. Also, isn’t beauty in the eye of the beholder?
The average lifespan will be 100 years
Coming from an era where living to a ripe old age of 80 was already a feat, these days, you’ll find a lot more people living in their 90s and even 100s. So, this prediction is pretty spot on. But to live to 150 or 200? That’ll be another century probably. The current oldest person is Jeanne Calment (1875–1997) of France, who lived to be 122 years old.
Men will curl their hair
It’s interesting that this trend is predicted by an anthropologist! Either way, men in perms were a thing back in the 1980s – but who knows if this trend will revive in 2023. If the mullet made a comeback, then we can expect curls to do the same.
Utensils will be made of pulp
Interestingly, we actually do have utensils that are made of vegetable pulp and ordinary waste. Living the eco-friendly lifestyle these days means that everything needs to be recyclable. You’ve probably seen plenty of disposable utensils made of recyclable pulp, right?
Flights from Chicago to Hamburg will only take 18 hours
Planes have been flying across the north pole for a while now – it cuts the travel time significantly. As the crow flies, the flight duration currently takes about 9 hours. Most airlines will get you there within 11 hours – and that’s not even via a direct flight.
Newspapers would be out of business for 50 years
Newspapers, in the traditional sense, have been struggling for decades now. But those that survived have pivoted to online subscriptions – not quite ‘listening’ to the news, as predicted. Still, their prediction for actual newspapers to be redundant is actually spot on.
Private kitchens will disappear
This is definitely accurate! The food in our kitchens are mostly processed in some way – think of all the sauces, tins, and boxes of stuff we buy from the grocery store. Fresh food is pretty much relegated to less than half the space of a supermarket these days. They even predicted sauces with concentrated vitamins – well, we have fortified cereals and drinks, not sauces. Still, these predictions aren’t too far off.
War will be wireless
The ‘wireless’ war they predicted actually refers to a weapon that’s a water jet powered by electricity, and not what we think of when we hear the word ‘wireless’. Still, the idea that wars now can be powered by something else electric – the drone – is definitely closer to what’s predicted. Oh, and you can forget about the ‘mental telepathy’ existing form birth. That’s not gonna happen.
People will communicate using watch-size radio telephones
They must’ve been referring to the Apple Watch! How did they even predict this is beyond imagination, but kudos to them for actually coming up with a prediction that’s spot on for 2023!
What other predictions for 2023 have you heard? Can’t be more eerie than Nostradamus’ predictions for 2022 right?
Originally published on Twitter (via Paul Fairie).
