If Someone Randomly Appeared...

[cphbullet]

I still maintain that the above is one of the primary reasons I like electric cars. If you grow up watching sci-fi stuff on TV and believing the future will be like it is in the TV shows, it's disappointing when you get there to find everything is like it was in the decade you grew up, only with more debt. I want my future cars already, dammit.



Or Spongebob Squarepants.

That's not that difficult you'd just have to sing his theme song and I think we all know how that goes

@niky ok sort of proving your point here but whos Cecil the sea serpent?

 

[Nicksfix]

If someone were to randomly appear from any of these, 50 or 100 yrs. ago, I think that they would want to randomly dis-appear saying ... "WTF have you people done" on their way back out.

Then again, there is the internet, electronics technology, transportation, architectural design. There is a list of things that would just boggle their mind. It would be rough to pinpoint just 1 thing in general.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Pokemon.

I'm only from 33 years ago, I've lived through it, and I've got no freakin' idea what the hell it's all about. Seriously.

 

[iMikeTheKing]

From 50, 100, and hundreds of years ago, it would be the language we use today(including slang). Imagine telling someone from 50 years ago that the n-bomb with an -a instead of -er is actually a friendly term. Then you have technology and science advancements then they would likely lose it. I tried explaining texting to my mom and after several years she finally understood how to use it. She still hates texting and hardly ever uses it.

 

[Hasis]

It would be hard to tell about modern gadgets and devices.

 

[niky]

That's not that difficult you'd just have to sing his theme song and I think we all know how that goes

@niky ok sort of proving your point here but whos Cecil the sea serpent?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beany_and_Cecil

Experimental cartoons have been around for a long time. Your person from the 60's will have seen shorts by such luminaries as Chuck Jones and Bob Clampett, and won't be too fazed by most modern cartoons. Hell, "Duck Season, Rabbit Season" is still more surreal than 90% of the hash on TV nowadays... And that was released sixty years ago...

 

[lbsf1]

Computers and the internet. My nan has lived through the past 80 years yet still is confused by computers and is scared to use a cash machine (atm for you americans). If that is what someone who has lived through it is like then I can't even imagine the confusion someone who has come straight from letters being the fastest communication.

 

[Sam48]

War on Terror

I believe that tactic, as one might call it, has always existed. It simply manifests in different forms when one grows too old. In my opinion, the hardest thing to explain would be the average citizen who now looks to higher authority for help, rather than attempting to help themselves.

 

[Joel]

For 50 years I think the internet would be the biggest thing, followed by a black president. Just the way we have hundreds of HD channels, Youtube, and how we use the internet and other computers for nearly everything. It really is mind boggling how much changes and how much is taken for granted.

For 100 years, I wouldn't even know where to start. Probably with equal rights for women and I'd go from there.

 

[Grand Prix]

Have always wondered what someone like Tazio Nuvolari would think of a modern F1 car, and how well he could adapt to driving one. Could be interesting to see a 1930s opinion on modern tracks as well.

I don't think the ancient Greeks and Romans would be as amazed with our advances as the Medieval Europeans would be. The latter group would likely think we are all witches and warlocks. Modern technology would have to be the hardest thing to explain in general I would think. I'd say most philosophical ideas have been thought up at some point, but technology and knowledge are constantly evolving.

People from the '60s would probably be very disappointed that the science fiction ideas of their time haven't yet come to exist in reality.

 

[Firehound427]

Gosh, I don't know what I'd say to someone from the past!


If someone did buzz in from 1963 though, I think a ride in a GT-R would be interesting...

 

[Callum B]

Why girls who smear their faces with what appears to be peanut butter seem to be extremely popular and classed as 'hot'. Tbh I think that's just a relative for people from any time period.

 

[Joey D]

Why girls who smear their faces with what appears to be peanut butter seem to be extremely popular and classed as 'hot'. Tbh I think that's just a relative for people from any time period.

Cosmetics have been around for thousands of years though, the Greek and Egyptians both wore it.

 

[PeterJB]

If Beethoven came back he would weep for the state of the music industry, even if he couldn't hear any of it.

 

[Slash]

if beethoven came back he would weep for the state of the music industry, even if he couldn't hear any of it.

+1

 

[Danoff]

If Beethoven came back he would weep for the state of the music industry, even if he couldn't hear any of it.

That's interesting considering that in many ways Beethoven is the reason music is the way it is today. Beethoven pushed music toward simple, powerful melodies and away from the highly technical and complex work that came before. In doing so, he captured people's emotions and reached a broader audience.

Classical music, just like art, went through a period of highly technical "look what I can do". It was like a very faithful representation of a bowl of fruit or portrait. Beethoven was more of an impressionist, not caring to impress with detail but instead focusing on emotion and mood. Leading music out of theory and into a simpler, more emotional style that appealed to the masses means Beethoven was, in many respects, the original pop star.

I think he might be fascinated to find how far music has gone with that inspiration.

 

[PeterJB]

That's interesting considering that in many ways Beethoven is the reason music is the way it is today. Beethoven pushed music toward simple, powerful melodies and away from the highly technical and complex work that came before. In doing so, he captured people's emotions and reached a broader audience.

Classical music, just like art, went through a period of highly technical "look what I can do". It was like a very faithful representation of a bowl of fruit or portrait. Beethoven was more of an impressionist, not caring to impress with detail but instead focusing on emotion and mood. Leading music out of theory and into a simpler, more emotional style that appealed to the masses means Beethoven was, in many respects, the original pop star.

I think he might be fascinated to find how far music has gone with that inspiration.

I'd say that Beethoven's music was far more complex than that of Mozart and Haydn, maybe not Bach though. But unlike those three he was immensely popular during is lifetime, and his early music was heavily inspired by them, before he found his voice (and then lost his hearing). It was far less academic than that of Haydn and Mozart. They largely composed in bulk because they had to to make a living, but Beethoven was able to spend more time over his work due his popularity making him more financially stable.

Classical music has always been about technical prowess, Beethoven really kicked it off and set new standards. These days contemporary classical music is more focused on creativity of extended techniques and harmonies, within the classical world there is little of his legacy felt from beyond 1950. But his ideas are still felt all the way through popular music, though popular music is now more of a business enterprise than an artistic movement.

 

[Slash]

That's interesting considering that in many ways Beethoven is the reason music is the way it is today. Beethoven pushed music toward simple, powerful melodies and away from the highly technical and complex work that came before. In doing so, he captured people's emotions and reached a broader audience.

Classical music, just like art, went through a period of highly technical "look what I can do". It was like a very faithful representation of a bowl of fruit or portrait. Beethoven was more of an impressionist, not caring to impress with detail but instead focusing on emotion and mood. Leading music out of theory and into a simpler, more emotional style that appealed to the masses means Beethoven was, in many respects, the original pop star.

I think he might be fascinated to find how far music has gone with that inspiration.

I find it interesting that many, many metal bands cite him as an inspiration. And rightfully so.




@Peter



It's the same for Beethoven kicking off classic music as it was for Metallica introducing thrash metal in the early 80s. Or at least making it popular.

 

[ghskilla]

It'd be interesting to explain to those from the 60s (who've listened to The Beatles, Stones, etc.) about dubstep.

100+ years - Technology.

200+ years - Human rights.

300+ years - Advances in science.

 

[Danoff]

I'd say that Beethoven's music was far more complex than that of Mozart and Haydn, maybe not Bach though. But unlike those three he was immensely popular during is lifetime, and his early music was heavily inspired by them, before he found his voice (and then lost his hearing). It was far less academic than that of Haydn and Mozart. They largely composed in bulk because they had to to make a living, but Beethoven was able to spend more time over his work due his popularity making him more financially stable.

Classical music has always been about technical prowess...

You lost me there. Some classical music is about technical prowess, some of it is about music. Beethoven kicked off and set new standards for music, he was not the most technical composer to come along (which you yourself said).

Beethoven really kicked it off and set new standards. These days contemporary classical music is more focused on creativity of extended techniques and harmonies, within the classical world there is little of his legacy felt from beyond 1950.

...lost me again. Beethoven's legacy is still felt in all music from all genres - if not for any other reason than it changed the way people approached music. Influences are so intertwined with all musicians at this point that I don't think it's possible to claim any new music is completely free of his legacy.

 

[PeterJB]

You lost me there. Some classical music is about technical prowess, some of it is about music. Beethoven kicked off and set new standards for music, he was not the most technical composer to come along (which you yourself said).

Indeed, his music was years ahead of his time, and virtually every Romantic composer was living in his shadow.

...lost me again. Beethoven's legacy is still felt in all music from all genres - if not for any other reason than it changed the way people approached music. Influences are so intertwined with all musicians at this point that I don't think it's possible to claim any new music is completely free of his legacy.

His influence on pop, rock, jazz, blues etc. is pretty crystal clear. But contemporary classical music is more attuned to the style of Stravinsky and Schoenberg for example. His great sense of melody is what caught everyone's attention, and today that is the key to selling records.

 

[Dan_]

Pokemon.

I'm only from 33 years ago, I've lived through it, and I've got no freakin' idea what the hell it's all about. Seriously.

It's about a group of young humans who enslave the local fauna, confine them to pretty unfitting habitats and put them through fights in exchange for money and reputation.

If someone randomly appeared what would I have trouble explaning?

50 years ago: How we still have poverty, disease and nearly a third of the world's population barely fed.

100 years ago: The advancements in technology and science, and how they are changing the way that newer generations see the world and react upon it.

Medieval Ages: That minorities are slowly getting their deserved rights respected, even though much blood has been dropped and still is to do so.