i want something truly astonishing to happen within my life time

[TurdBerglar]

-atlantis discovered
-noah's ark found high up in some mountains
-a distant star explodes and a vast supernova is visible for weeks at all hours of the day
-elvis/Hendrix/lennon/cobain all come out of hiding with an album made together
-aliens make contact with us and tell us that we're nothing more than their mail order ant farm
-a musical revolution similar to the beatles/60's
-a zoo dedicated to cloned animals of extinct species

I can't think of anything truly astonishing happening since the moon landing that caught the attention of the whole world. well maybe sending probes to mars but that won't truly be astonishing in most peoples' eyes until evidence of (past) life is found.

[cosmo105]

teleportation
setting up a semipermanent base on mars and/or the moon
eradication of cancer/HIV/malaria/diabetes/any other big ones
north korea finally goes completely batshit in some way
bigfoot/loch ness/chupacabra/something else ridiculous or mythical confirmed
insanely huge deep sea creatures discovered


there are of course about a billion crazy awesome scientific discoveries i'd love to see and political progress to be made but i am mostly excited about teleportation

[Adam]

I can't think of anything truly astonishing happening since the moon landing that caught the attention of the whole world.



internet?

[Guy Incognito]

-atlantis discovered
-noah's ark found high up in some mountains
-a distant star explodes and a vast supernova is visible for weeks at all hours of the day
-elvis/Hendrix/lennon/cobain all come out of hiding with an album made together
-aliens make contact with us and tell us that we're nothing more than their mail order ant farm
-a musical revolution similar to the beatles/60's
-a zoo dedicated to cloned animals of extinct species

I can't think of anything truly astonishing happening since the moon landing that caught the attention of the whole world. well maybe sending probes to mars but that won't truly be astonishing in most peoples' eyes until evidence of (past) life is found.

9/11
Hip Hop
Mobile Phones
internet
them oven cleaning things

[TurdBerglar]

astonishing isn't quite the right word to describe 9/11. for something that devastating and infamous, "astonishing" has more of a positive vibe to it.

the internet and mobile phones aren't much different than cable tv and satellite transmission simply put. both have been around much longer. if anything those two older technologies are more astonishing than phones/internet.

and bigfoot. forgot about that one. i'd to love to see any of those cryptozoology freaks. I guess we've got the giant squid now. but that's just a really big fucking squid.

[Guy Incognito]

yeah i realise 9/11 was bad but it did capture the entire worlds attention and has shaped the future to some degree

no argument with hip hop then? the 60's revolution will never be repeated with guitar bass and drums. machines however?

[Freebasser]

a zoo dedicated to cloned animals of extinct species

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/sep/07/discovery-species-papua-new-guinea

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2009/sep/06/wildlife-endangeredspecies#/?picture=352597639&index=0

Not quite as glamourous, I admit but it's still pretty amazing that things like giant rats have been stomping around for hundreds of years without ever having come in to contact with humans before.

I think a lot of the 'wow' factor is taken away from events like this because they barely ever make the news. Why should they, when there are upskirt pictures of Kim Kardashian that need to be on the front page?

[Adam]

the internet and mobile phones aren't much different than cable tv and satellite transmission simply put

You think?

In 100 & 1000 years, the invention of the internet will be a bigger story than the moon landing.

Also the story that since about 1900 we've had the technology and know how to make sure no-one goes cold or hungry but the world didn't sort that out of how many hundred of years.

What about DNA sequencing? The higgs boson? Might not seem too relevant right now but once it becomes standard for all to have DNA sequencing from birth and the confirmation that physics is actually fact all will have amazing future consequences we haven't realised yet.

[TurdBerglar]

I didn't comment on hip hop because I don't really have much to say anything good about it. I just see it as a bastardization/simplifying of past musical trends that have been blended together. lyrically rap and hip hop are above and beyond anything else when it comes to technicality and word play. most of the focus of the fans and creators is on the lyrics. but as a whole it's musically old and stale and relies on things that have been done long ago. in the beginning rap and hip hop have this great punk/indie feel to it. now it's all very mechanical and predictable. the poetry aspect of it has advanced but not the whole musical aspect of it. I am no hip hop expert though.

what i'm saying about phones and internet is that its technology was just bound to happen based on previous technology. all it really is, is information being transmitted which had already around. radio, tv, and land line phone technology had already been around. the switch from analog to digital transmission is what really jump started everything. the forbearers of the internet is what really is astonishing.

and those giant rats. what would be astonishing is if they found species that were thought to be extinct. like dodos and moas. the would be fucking neat.

[TimDoolan]

The first moment in human history when we are, in fact, visiting other worlds? Quite epic. Says Carl Sagen

[Lex Diamonds]

This is just a matter of perspective, really. In other words, not everybody would agree with you that the digital revolution, 9/11, Obama's election et cetera were not astonishing.

[checkyourprez]

teleportation
setting up a semipermanent base on mars and/or the moon
eradication of cancer/HIV/malaria/diabetes/any other big ones
north korea finally goes completely batshit in some way
bigfoot/loch ness/chupacabra/something else ridiculous or mythical confirmed
insanely huge deep sea creatures discovered


there are of course about a billion crazy awesome scientific discoveries i'd love to see and political progress to be made but i am mostly excited about teleportation

they did just find 30 foot long squid with eyeballs the size of our heads...does that count?

[Guy Incognito]

I didn't comment on hip hop because I don't really have much to say anything good about it. I just see it as a bastardization/simplifying of past musical trends that have been blended together. lyrically rap and hip hop are above and beyond anything else when it comes to technicality and word play. most of the focus of the fans and creators is on the lyrics. but as a whole it's musically old and stale and relies on things that have been done long ago. in the beginning rap and hip hop have this great punk/indie feel to it. now it's all very mechanical and predictable. the poetry aspect of it has advanced but not the whole musical aspect of it. I am no hip hop expert though.

.

To be honest i was referring more to sampling, technology and also the fact that virtually anyone can make a tune now. Thats amazing to me. That someone who cant play an actual instrument or hasnt got access to a massive recording studio can produce a song that can be heard all over the world. Surely thats got to be astonishing.

This is just a matter of perspective, really. In other words, not everybody would agree with you that the digital revolution, 9/11, Obama's election et cetera were not astonishing.

Indeed, astonishing to me means something that makes your jaw drop and lost for words for a second. Or people remember where they were.

[MC Moot]

What's astonishing is the fact that you were born...and most likely into a level of comfort,security,opportunity and good health enjoyed by the luck of hitting the first world lottery...I find that astonishing all the time...

[TurdBerglar]

To be honest i was referring more to sampling, technology and also the fact that virtually anyone can make a tune now. Thats amazing to me. That someone who cant play an actual instrument or hasnt got access to a massive recording studio can produce a song that can be heard all over the world. Surely thats got to be astonishing.

that's like accepting fine art that started out as a paint by numbers template as astonishing.

[Guy Incognito]

yes, its possible to create a tune now with not a lot of skill and by pressing a few buttons but someone can also just paint a picture of flowers.

Some electronic music is tweaked and ached upon for ages, just as a masterpiece painting is.

The ability to create sounds that have come nowhere near an instrument and to create moods and emotions is an astonishing thing. I dabble in making it but at no time i have ever felt there is a formula for me to follow, i try and make different sounds come together

[TurdBerglar]

I only seem to like electronic/sample based music when it's very densely layered(hello nasty, paul's boutique).


electronic/sample based music can feel very mechanical to me and have no life to it. a lot of new music with live instruments feel this way too because of all the manipulation used by current hardware/software. I think this newer technology gets used more for bad than good. it's like relying on CGI in a movie. it only works to a high degree if it's subtle.

[zippo]

oh god, just give the kid an answer he'll be satisfied with! not one, turd

(my dog is staring at me)

[Pres Zount]

teleportation
setting up a semipermanent base on mars and/or the moon
eradication of cancer/HIV/malaria/diabetes/any other big ones
north korea finally goes completely batshit in some way
bigfoot/loch ness/chupacabra/something else ridiculous or mythical confirmed
insanely huge deep sea creatures discovered


there are of course about a billion crazy awesome scientific discoveries i'd love to see and political progress to be made but i am mostly excited about teleportation

Done.

I feel guilty for wanting a MASSIVE war that would engulf the world in flames. Sometimes. Maybe with good ol' Democratic People's Repuplic of Korea leading the way, with Bigfoot teleporting into enemy bases and then teleporting the flag back to his base.

[TurdBerglar]

I wish I could have seen that Russian meterorite

[avignon]

3D printers are witchcraft.