How the Year 2440 was Imagined in 1771

[@noatreiman]

So basically this guy goes centuries into the future, and his favorite part was sitting in front of the TV. love it

[@juliansanchezharris5773]

😂😂

[@johnpooky84]

This is the best comment.

[@lordkayx]

I know your being funny, but I liked his sincere hope that once the brutality, cruelty, and despair of war could be recorded through audio and video and witnessed firsthand it would either be enough to deter a person or at least know that they're a psychopath.

[@sforza209]

Sounds like idiocracy.

[@UdumbaraMusic]

@@sforza209 Sounds like what we're all doing right now.

[@michaelh4227]

Love how every depiction of the future just says more about the time it was predicted than anything. It's usually always "like our time, except now flying cars".

[@KCJbomberFTW]

I love that the architect of paris was so inspired by this book he did what the book wanted 100 years later building giant avenues

[@pravkdey]

Yea, and sort of universal desires, like being able to fly,

[@anselpeneloperainblossom-s3489]

@@KCJbomberFTWfiction inspiring reality is shockingly common. The amount of technology that we have that some engineer found in a sci fi book and decided we needed that tech is worth giving a Google

[@KCJbomberFTW]

@@anselpeneloperainblossom-s3489 yeah but less so in terms of modern architecture I’d love for a planned skyscraper or museum design from the 1920s to be built today

[@KCJbomberFTW]

@ metropolitan life North building original design can be completed today if funded

[@TurtleMan2023]

I've never considered a future without the industrial revolution, it's so cool to imagine a distant future like 2440 being so old fashion

[@joshmnky]

It's far enough out for a collapse and reformation. He might not be as off-the-mark as we think, lol.

[@Valentin-oc5nh]

@@joshmnkytrue omg! i hope so

[@maxbielawski6745]

It’s crazy to think this could’ve happened. Human progress really wasn’t inevitable

[@icy9308]

​@@Valentin-oc5nh u hope women are nothing more than companions for men

[@samdasamoza]

@@Valentin-oc5nh you hope for a global societal collapse within the next 300 years?

[@rolletroll2338]

I love the fact that not having a sword when walking down the streets of paris was considered highly futuristic back then.

[@francisdec1615]

You could buy firearms without a license in France and many other European countries like Sweden and Germany until about shortly after WWI and there were no restrictions on carrying, so yes, not carrying a weapon seemed a bit strange to most people in 1771.

[@rushyscoper1651]

it still is in UK xd

[@PrinceArthur636]

@@mikejones7593 Good point. But I feel like we're at a loss for not carrying blades normally anymore. If we are worried about untrustworthy people carrying weapons, that's even more reason for normal people to. I guess that applies to guns but blades deserve their place

[@mushroomsrcool1449]

@@PrinceArthur636 If everyone has weapons, some may be more eager to use them than others. It's best we didn't empower ourselves with tools for murder. A fight in fists is easily preventable. A fight with weapons? That's something you can't interfere with without risking your own life in.

[@RashFever26]

Now knives are making a widespread comeback in European cities because immigrant gangs carry blades and lots of people also carry them for protection...

[@ED-yy4te]

"Monarchs contributing to science rather than land conquered" no wonder this book was banned

[@RogerTheil]

Much of modern science was developed by Monarchical funding. MANY monarchs loved the sciences and were eager to fund their further development. But yes, this opinion that governments should be more interested in the development of arts and sciences than wars and power was popular then as it is now.

[@The1976spirit]

Remember Eisenhower and the International Geopphysical Year 1957.

[@StarSprangledBanner]

​@@RogerTheilno

[@breadbugking]

​@@StarSprangledBannerRogerThiel is right here. Most scientists didn't just have money, they worked for nobles or other rich people who could afford them, and would be their patrons.

[@PowerMadLabRat]

@@StarSprangledBanner An argument from ignorance

[@czerwoneokladki]

This man had really peculiar viewpoint: the american and african colonies were abolished and the slaves freed themselves while colonizers begged for forgiveness. However, people in China were made to learn latin alphabet, Poles were thanking Tsar Katherine for 'taking care of Polish chaos' and Scotts and Irishmen were eager to be stripped out of their national identity.

[@Don-ep4mx]

Well, the oppression olympics were somewhat different back then...

[@Compsky]

He had the best viewpoint

[@colbyboucher6391]

Well, the idea was that freedom only extened to a point that education was supposed to correct. Everyone in his society would think the "correct" way... but. there's a big difference between "wrongheadedness" and the absurd suffering of slavery. He wasn't _that_ heartless.

[@epicsmashman6806]

with respect to the chinese using the latin alphabet, I feel as if he was saying they willfully adapted the use of the latin alphabet because it was "better", no force involved. Just the authors personal view that everyone in the world would of course eventually use the latin alphabet.

[@Vapor817]

to be fair chinese people today use english letters for pinyin in everyday life, it's much faster than having to write out characters

[@TheDNAlucky]

It's actually impossible to think how the world will be different 1000 years from now. As 1000 years ago we would never even be able to think of such a concept as a phone or laptop.

[@pinchevulpes]

Holtzman effect

[@wowcplayer3]

To think? Or to be right?

[@TomSistermans]

1000 years in the future is easy to predict: Richard Nixon will be president

[@cheyennealvis8284]

Maybe not. But at least we know what the 41st millennium will be like.

[@morthim]

40 years ago few would have been able to conceive a phone or laptop.

[@stewiebalew6446]

This is the best recommendation the KZbin algorithm has ever sent me. I usually find this quality of stuff by looking for a topic and searching until i find something good. This was my first recommendation today.

[@EmilyTienne]

Our ideas of a distant future conjure up visions of massive technological change, whereas this 1771 author’s ideas of the distant future center around societal perfection.

[@brianschmidt9919]

its ironic too that in order to acheive this eden like society where each person is oriented to the good of all requires a level of unity and compliance that could only be acheived by the complete suppression of all other ideas and a mechanism of state that system of either rewards those those who comply and punishes those who wont until they do and therefore by necessity it would have to be incredibly tyrannical and oppressive.

[@EmilyTienne]

@@brianschmidt9919 I have to agree with your statement. This is pure socialism and suppression. The biblical heaven could be something like this, and I’m not interested.

[@M.Alfonso]

It's interesting that we are so technology-leaning on how we imagine the future today. I love the idea of imagining distant future on a moral aspect

[@EmilyTienne]

@@M.Alfonso Agreed. We, as a whole, have come to tie human worth to the acquisition of substance (money, property, things).

[@BallsRollProjects]

​@@EmilyTienne well it is our thing after all. Humanity has the ability to manipulate and craft the world to her image like no other animal (that we know of) does.

[@LiveFreeOrDie2A]

The Tower of Babel book burning and the mask of shame re-educators part was terrifying

[@wyatttyson7737]

Its like an 18th century Brave New World with a heaping dose of 1984.

[@kevinscales]

@@wyatttyson7737 Except the person writing it thought it was a good idea.

[@fusion9619]

Leftists do love their book burnings

[@user-wi9hv2pb2q]

Anytime someone wants to criticize the founders of the USA, consider the concepts here: the attempt at democracy, freedom of speech, egalitarianism, and how horrific some of this author's fantasies are in proposed practice.

[@Thed538dhsk]

​@@user-wi9hv2pb2qand slavery

[@debrickashaw9387]

That is one hell of a nap

[@stewiebalew6446]

Reminds me of Ray Wiley Hubbard's Conversation with the devil 😂

[@dannydetonator]

He might have taken some.. ahem, dream enchancers like ayhuasca or something before bedtime

[@orionbarnes1733]

my man SNOOZED

[@Jakob.Hamburg]

@@dannydetonator The more DMT we release while dreaming, the more intense, realistic and visionary the dreams become. External DMT like from the usage of Ayahuasca forces it, but such dreams can also come incidental without psychoactive drugs. Also related: Archetypal dreams.

[@BlackSupraC2]

@@Jakob.Hamburg just one hour ago I finished rewatching Inception and wonder if there are actual drugs/ sedatives out there that can enhance lucid dreaming...then I see this comment.

[@names_are_useless]

The most unbelievable part of this story was the entire British Isles uniting together as Great Britain.

[@margitwes6495]

Yup! The English will never live down what they did to Ireland/Scotland, not in hundred generations

[@pierren___]

The uk does. Its one island

[@gdplayer19]

@@pierren___ But they are only in a sort of mini-union, aren't they? They're still seperate countries.

[@Helperbot-2000]

@@pierren___ go on over to scotland and call em english, hahahahha

[@pierren___]

@@Helperbot-2000 no matter how far they twist it, they are

[@christyioran2969]

It's wild to me that even in this vision of an enlightened progressive future where a prosperous reborn Aztec empire rules North America and a black Spartacus has brought justice and peace for the descendants of slaves in the new world, the Irish and Polish are still considered incapable of governing themselves lol colonial era European prejudices are truly fascinating

[@Mrpersonman0]

I'm not sure an empire of any kind ruling north america would be progress but sure.

[@brianschmidt9919]

speak for yourself, you've been brainwashed to believe that - this platform is complict in it as is its parent company google and many others as well - dont buy into the lie that says white means weak. i know who i am and no amount of indoctrination could change the faith i have in in my abilities or my peoples. all i have to do is remember the incredible number of advancements and accomplishments that help make our world a better safer healthier more enjoyable place to live and know that they exist because we dreamt of them built them spoke them sung them wrote them wrought them and did them. im incredibly proud and feel fortunate to be part of a such a great strong and capable people and its from them that i rightly source my strength and confidence and so should you

[@arlynnecumberbatch1056]

@@Mrpersonman0 i mean is colonialism progression?

[@colbyboucher6391]

​@@Mrpersonman0Well, this dude was wishing for an empire in Europe, too. It was certainly his idea of of progress.

[@MarteenHobbu]

​​@@arlynnecumberbatch1056 by definition, yes.

[@FishyAltFishy]

This is some wacky french isekai

[@samten6080]

This is literally a isekai!

[@AmazingRebel23]

what is that

[@kadenreed8603]

@@AmazingRebel23A quick search says it’s Japanese fantasy about a person transported to another world

[@GaddafisPlug]

nahh broo just made a world full of chill folks

[@MollyHJohns]

OP, you are right on lol. There is some AU vibe right here too. Isekai = "Sekai" means World, "I" means another/different. Pronounced roughly as Ee-se-kye. A genre where the MC (or others) for some reason dies and their soul and a new body/identity got to live a second life in another world, or got bodily transmigrated while still alive to another world; either by the mistakes or whims of a highest being(s) that controls the world(s), sudden random dimensional glitches/cracks/wormhole, or by forced summoning by the other world's local beings/people with the absolute intent of using the MC/characters as their otherworldly human tools (war, saviour, soulmate, whatever else).

[@AmericanMephistopheles]

One of the best history channels on KZbin, no contest.

[@MsKyliel]

I can think of some

[@simtexa]

I love how these old-timey 'utopian' societies all rely entirely on _everyone_ suddenly and unanimously agreeing with the author on everything and acting entirely selflessly all the time.

[@l-e-v-117]

True, it's almost as if everyone acted selflessly no one would even need to be selfish. These authors may be idealistic but at least they're capable of being optimistic enough to see the good in humanity

[@theblingcycle]

@@l-e-v-117 its almost as if such an idea goes against human nature and not just the "bad" parts, and necessitates cruel and total control over people's lives and the most pervasive propaganda you can imagine

[@ryuunosuk3]

​@@theblingcycle these autors where gnostics, they believe in this obscure religion that dictates that a "gnosis" (knowledge) can elevate the soul and "unlock" your potential, essentially making you a god. It's the same seed that drives communism, that being: every human is a good person, but capitalism perverse their good nature, in a post-capitalist society everyone will have unlocked their godhood by the means of revolution (the gnosis of commies). They don't accept the idea of the original sin, that we are imperfect by nature, to them Satan was the good guy all along and he wanted to help humanity by giving the Apple to the humans (we have Apple now and they are overpriced products, Satan didn't know shit about technology).

[@EvaRitman]

in my humble opinion, i dont think humans will ever be capable of entire selflessness. although we have big developed brains we are still animals at the end of the day, we fight and squabble and we always have

[@dogestranding5047]

Utopia literally means “no place.”

[@ibbyseed]

I like how the idea of a car or modern transportation was so foreign to people in the past that it wasn’t even something they thought of in fiction. Like the idea wasn’t even conceivable and was beyond imagination. makes you think unimaginable things will take over the world in the next 500 + years that we now can’t even think of.

[@jonnygzz1631]

I know and it was SO CLOSE to the Industrial Revolution but not close enough so there’s just more limited technology

[@Mercedesxoo]

What about Leo davinci helicopter origin

[@GoddessofWisdom]

As a Pennsylvanian, the idea that we are the only colony that survived is *so* funny to me. Not sure a lot of us would want to survive if coffee was banned though!

[@pierren___]

Where did he said that ?

[@RyRy2057]

@@pierren___ i was skipping through the video and at number 8 it says that about Pennsylvania soon after

[@pierren___]

@@RyRy2057 number 8 ?

[@RyRy2057]

@@pierren___ oh yeah sorry like, when you hit 8 on the keyboard it skips to 80% through the video

[@pierren___]

@@RyRy2057 oh yeah i found around 32:00

[@leogazebo5290]

I could easily see how this "utopia" could be twisted into the most depressing dystopia ever imagined... geez what a great concept for a novel.

[@lucieeatssnekkers2756]

I agree, the bookburning was what made it click for me that it was a fascist hell.

[@auangauthentication958]

Mao also burned countless books , is he a Fascist?

[@zwarga100]

@@auangauthentication958 yes

[@huwjonesification]

It reminds me of the whole whole thing and self censorship that’s going on now

[@Kay-kg6ny]

​@mechupaunhuevon7662you're right about the formal definition of the term they happened to use, but I think the broader point they were trying to get at about it actually being a dark and oppressive society still stands

[@darknesdkzr000]

This (the book) despite being very clearly intended to be read as an utopia of sorts, and thus being presented with very positive lens, has the feeling of having something very fundamentally wrong underneath the appearances. Although admittedly that is probably a result of how naively it presents the ideas.

[@UltrafalconVX7]

No, it really is messed up because this society requires most of humanity to get rid of personal desires and come together unanimously under a strict set of ideologies.

[@sample455]

@@UltrafalconVX7 sounds like modern day liberalism to me lol

[@pacotaco1246]

It's like an uncanny valley effect applied to the whole world

[@GearZNet]

It's dehumanizing and like someone else commented there is an uncanny valley effect occurring because people intuitively know humans are not inherently paragons of virtue and selflessness. For a society akin to those portrayed in this novel to exist humans would have to become something different all together.

[@sample455]

@@GearZNet Yea and in this alternate universe you see nothing but homogenous cultures, societies. It feels written from a very elitist, pretty racist perspective. What I really like is that our visceral reactions just speak to how human ideas facilitate our material conditions and our material conditions effect our ideas. No matter what we are slaves to our environment and varying utopian fictions are only a result.

[@sb12083]

Sorry bro I cannot come today, I got sent to the Hell again for developing a warlike disposition.

[@DerHammerSpricht]

"Under peaceful conditions, the warlike individual sets upon himself!" ~Friedrich Nietzsche

[@Arvak777]

Bros like, evil people just play COD as punishment.

[@nitsu2947]

I hear this part and suddenly goes "oh, you mean All quiet on the Western Front ?"

[@InquisitorBoomBoom]

What's weird you can search it in KZbin and some people call it relaxing

[@Kay-kg6ny]

The book burning and author censorship via mandatory shame masks was so dark so suddenly 💀

[@mitchellcouchman1444]

The part its portrayed as a good thing too is interesting, idk if that's the influence of how its presented here or how its presented in the book tho

[@jennysquibb7440]

Poor Sappho was wronged!

[@supermoneyball420]

@@mitchellcouchman1444Yoooo does anybody else think this guy a shameful fool 😹🫵 I think we all know what time it is fr 👺🫳

[@sagitarriulus9773]

Right and the writer doesn’t seem to acknowledge how fucked that is lol. When George Orwell wrote about the memory hole he made it sound like the end of the world when something would be thrown down it.

[@jennysquibb7440]

@@sagitarriulus9773 one person’s utopia is often another person’s dystopia.

[@ordinaryrat]

This isn't a utopia. This is a dystopia under a thin veneer of utopia. This actually feels like the 'utopian' upper city in Demolition Man. People are brainwashed into a cult of pacificism and timidness with no freedom of thought. The most obvious cracks in the veneer, for instance, when it is stated that princes who inherently disagree, are punished by experiencing war for there entire lives. That is a worse punishment that being in prison. This society took down the bastille (that actually did take down crimimals) for being unethical but harshly punishes any thought that is out of line.

[@ordinaryrat]

20:06 Holy shit this is wild. There is no way this guy was trying to make a utopia here.

[@sluggastar2]

The book burning part definitely gives it away

[@rushyscoper1651]

one need to think of the context in which its exist, the author already living in dystopia.

[@ΕρνέστοςΣμίθ]

And of course book-burnings of anything seen as useless, shaming those who think differently and dare to write about it. Sound much like the two political parties of the US and their allies worldwide.

[@nitishkumarjurel241]

By your logic then, every society is dystopian as every society has taboos violating which will lead to ostracization and other punishments.

[@jmjedi923]

Its interesting that all the buildings have rooftop gardens, a popular future city idea nowadays is rooftop lawns

[@ChristianJiang]

Can’t wait to see people in 2440 react to this the same way we reacted in 2015 to Back to the Future II

[@Ad-zk8nz]

In our next reincarnations hihi...

[@TiberiusX]

Plot twist it all comes true!

[@DerHammerSpricht]

@@RockBrentwood Sounds like some vaguely Confucian fear-mongering.

[@BigBrotherMateyka]

> implying there are people in 2440

[@vulpo]

I'm afraid you'll have to wait.

[@e.m.b.5090]

"Theology? Yeah, we use that as a memetic warfare agent"

[@johntr5964]

That’s a very interesting and well done video! I’d love to see some analysis of other old Utopian writings, maybe from Sir Thomas More, William Morris, Alexander Bogdanov or Alexander Chapayev.

[@cultmecca]

I like how even an 18th century man recognized that synthesizers were cool

[@flotilha935]

🤘😂

[@AdrianBoyko]

How kind of everyone to have carried on with life around him without disturbing him, for the hundreds of years that he slept.

[@dontcomply3976]

Just like Fry, Buck Rogers an Not Sure

[@theicepickthatkilledtrotsk658]

The real retro-futurism. haha

[@EkoFranko]

necro-futurism

[@a.r.c.001]

Classical futurism

[@micahistory]

Once again, every video on this channel just inspires me to create a more beautiful and pleasant world, thank you so very much king

[@afjer]

Mixture of Utopian and Dystopian ideas wrapped in a retro-futuristic package.

[@sample455]

stop defining, just experience it

[@GearZNet]

@@sample455 Stop resisting citizen! Just like... let it happen bro ;)

[@tripledair]

That's about 420 years from now. Pretty sure it's 100% accurate.

[@thefunksbeats]

After the nukes go off a few hundred years pass and people forget about the modern times and the industrial revolution 😅...😢 🍻

[@DJL78]

This was extraordinarily well crafted. Bravo! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@par.boe619]

This would be a dope setting for an open world video game

[@fictionsmith3688]

Tyranny of King Washington?

[@BASEDGIGACHAD_]

​@@fictionsmith3688ac3?

[@johnkeviljr9625]

Predicting the future is a fun exercise, but we are all prisoners of our own time and thoroughly limited. Excellent video. Thank You.

[@stegotyranno4206]

One of my favorite Future speculations ever heard, havent finished yet, but enjoying it so much. My favorite part so far is how everyone is still religious, even more so, but a more rational, benevolent type. It is far more interesting than the 20th century staple of "everyone is atheist"

[@lempereurcremeux3493]

tl;dr - this is just the 18th century equivalent of "everyone is atheist" It makes more sense when you consider that deism (what you're describing) was the equivalent of today's atheism back then and occupied the same niche - an edgy antiestablishment belief adopted by bourgeois people who wanted to express their discontent with the stuffiness and formalism of state religion. The core motivation of deism is stripping religion of frivolous and irrational aspects, and making everything simple and unadorned; its attacks on the church establishment were nothing that low-church Protestants hadn't said about Catholics a century earlier and weren't still saying in the 18th century. Over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, deism won out almost everywhere, and now found itself attacked by a newer, younger version of itself which fulfilled that same role in society: atheism.

[@stegotyranno4206]

@lempereurcremeux3493 i guess that is true though. but if i memory serves, his ideas of neo-deism still contain culture and traditions, unlike most other forms of deism and atheism, which is why I find it interesting.

[@user-wi9hv2pb2q]

In this fantasy everyone is agnostic, as are the majority of Americans now. I seldom see atheism in science fiction, usually religion isn't mentioned or the characters remain bizarrely and improbably religious, such as star trek.

[@stegotyranno4206]

@user-wi9hv2pb2q wait, theres religion in star trek? im not familar with the show. But what i mean is yes, religion is usuallh ignored. Star Wars, Man After Man, All tomorrows, i cannot think of religion being detailed there, other than a vague, destructive dogma. But I am not too familar with these either ao i could be wrong

[@Auglet]

THE 2 MONTH UPLOAD SCHEDULE IS REAAAALLLL

[@kingsandthings]

I actually thought I'd be able to get this out by early February at one point ... I never learn, it always takes longer than expected 😑

[@Auglet]

@@kingsandthingsdon’t stress about it, love the content and if it takes longer to make it so be it

[@ayindestevens6152]

@@kingsandthingsquality over quantity

[@ashr1190]

Every time I open KZbin and see a Kings and Things upload, I know it's going to be a great evening. I've been hooked since I discovered the rulers of Bavaria series.

[@Findecommie]

12:43 if only seeing videos of battles was enough to convince leaders not to go to war, Mercier would be pretty disappointed in the present

[@micahistory]

Very interesting, you can definitely tell that he is imagining a world in which the ideals of the Enlightenment are true but as is inevitably the case, it was impossible for him to predict social and especially technological advances in the future

[@mitchellcouchman1444]

What he could not favom is that man is not inherently good. There's clear precursors to progressivism in this text. A lack of understanding of what drove history to progress to where it was at that time. Obviously far easier to see in hindsight.

[@micahistory]

@@mitchellcouchman1444 yes

[@pierren___]

He predicted electricity and internet.

[@pierren___]

He litterally did and thats why he wrote this book. 🤦‍♂️

[@names_are_useless]

​@@mitchellcouchman1444 "Thou who are to bring felicity upon the earth! thou, alas! that I have only in a dream beheld..." It's moreso utopian fiction than speculative, what the writer dreams France will look like in the future.

[@jeansantana565]

Your channel is one of the best of YT, I'm recent follower and I can't express how good this is man. Continue like this, please. Everything is perfect.

[@SodaQuasar]

Shows how limited our imaginations are compared to the grand scale of universe and time

[@chrisd6287]

The bit about attacking an enemy with religion/theology was pretty great.

[@arcadiaberger9204]

Or as we call it today, attacking them with propaganda.

[@comradecockatoo3558]

Spore moment.

[@theCreature773]

@@comradecockatoo3558all they’re missing is a giant hologram coming from one of the ships of a pastor reading the city biblical verses

[@douglasphillips5870]

Ever notice how often utopia is based on everyone agreeing with the utopian? The first casualty of utopia is free thought

[@vaxrvaxr]

Well said.

[@PeterSchmuttermaier]

So do you mean that free thought is the enemy of collective happiness?

[@vaxrvaxr]

@@PeterSchmuttermaier We don't know enough about collective happiness to engineer it. Attempts at doing so at the cost of free thought are guaranteed to end in collective misery.

[@colbyboucher6391]

​@@PeterSchmuttermaierI mean, in an absolute sense, it's certainly the enemy of agreement and therefore contentment, which is the best anyone can hope for. Problem is forcing people to conform doesn't eliminate free thought, and actually makes their discontent greater.

[@NoCluYT]

A truly free society is a dangerous society. A truly safe society is a controlling society. There's no way of winning

[@kikoano111]

Now I want a entire movie/game based on this future!

[@JoshuaGold1]

We are closer to the writing of the book than the date it speaks of. That's insane to think about!

[@mynym4543]

I sense an opportunity for a book where Mercier finds himself in Paris of the 2020s after his ‘death’ and compares it to his own image of the future to be written…

[@Jib-Jab-4-life]

Go for it! I think there's lots of opportunity for a funny story that reflects our time back to ourselves!

[@IbrahimAli-sc8ud]

When 1914 began everyone "Thought" the future was so bright, the sky was the limit. Then June 28th happened. You cannot predict history

[@NurseAmamiya]

Tbh, it's actually kinda funny, in a twisted way, given how people love to predict the uncertain future, just to feel as though they'll end up being right by then, and all of a sudden, they get "psych!" by fate itself.

[@georgeousthegorgeous]

The future was bright. But it only came after 31 long years)

[@prasoonjha6314]

Not quite, optimistic SF remained popular until the 1950's.

[@Samouraii]

Crazy how he predicted radio and tv

[@DerHammerSpricht]

Crazy how long ago people were predicting AI/robots.

[@victorpedrosoceolin3919]

@@DerHammerSpricht where, please?

[@colbyboucher6391]

Yeah, there's some real sci-fi right there. They basically understood what vision and hearing were, so he could imagine a world where they're manipulated, even without industry to help it along.

[@DerHammerSpricht]

@@victorpedrosoceolin3919 1927, Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS was the first mainstream movie to use AI as a theme. But there were discussions of the idea of an "automaton" and how to build one, going back to the time of Socrates.

[@victorpedrosoceolin3919]

@@DerHammerSpricht well, metropolis was not that long ago, i can totaly see that And the greeks had some forms of automations if i remember, but putting people to do that was cheaper so they never really went on with it I am gonna search the automaton thing, it sounds curious

[@LuDux]

What is referered to as Poland at 36:20 was in fact Polish-Lithuanian confederation. Calling it Poland is pretty much the same as refering to Great Britain as England. It was pretty democratic, if you're noble, which I guess counts as anarchy for those living in absolute monarchies like Russia or France of 18th century

[@Game_Hero]

reffering to the dominant nation of the "union of equals" is a very common practice that tells a lot about the nature of multinational societies.

[@pierren___]

Did you understood he elogise it ?

[@pierren___]

Most nobles were left wing progressists in the 18 century

[@theaverageportugues4200]

​@@pierren___ there was no sutch thing in the 18th century, the term right wing only came to existende in the 19th century

[@pierren___]

@@theaverageportugues4200 bro never heard about the french revolution .

[@invisi-bullexploration2374]

"Who's that bald guy?" "That's Jean Luc. He runs a vineyard outside of town. He's kinda... Weird..."

[@lkrnpk]

Guy travels to 2024 "I see you have orderly traffic, everyone drives on the right. I bet you do not have a nobleman with 6 horse carriage racing recklessly through the city and plowing through people'' A red Ferrari flies into the view, takes out the light pole and crashes into some people. Guy ''Never mind...''

[@hashkangaroo]

"Unfortunately, I see you still haven't burned all the books yet."

[@Reallyidktbh]

Guy: "This thing can display a moving painting that gives any information? Alright, let's see what's happening to the world." The TV then started broadcasting about Russians bombing Ukraine and threatening the West with nuclear bombs, the US ruled by a senile old man and spends a lot on military stuff, China ruled by communists and more authoritarian than any absolutist kingdoms, brutal cartels fighting in Brazil, then another pride parade event just started in Paris. Guy: "Oh lord, the future is ruled by jesters..."

[@Reallyidktbh]

Guy: "This thing can display a moving painting that gives any information? Alright, let's see what's happening to the world." The TV then started broadcasting about Russians bombing Ukraine and threatening the West with nuclear bombs, the US ruled by a very old man and spends a lot on military stuff, China ruled by communists and more authoritarian than any absolutist kingdoms, brutal cartels fighting in Brazil, then another pride parade event just started in Paris. Guy: "Oh lord, the future is ruled by jesters..."

[@leahcim38]

You meant Mustang 😂😊

[@molybdaen11]

Hey, at least we have television and great audio now - you just have to buy a dozend different things which barely work together.

[@PeterSchmuttermaier]

This is a thought-provoking video about a thought-provoking book. Thanks so much for bringing it to my attention!

[@brunopereira6789]

The thing that is most offensive to me is the book burnings lol

[@newlight444]

The only unrealistic thing about the whole story is that a crowd gathered around when he arrived to the future. Most likely everybody would ignore him as people will be either completely antisocial, or they'll already be used to seeing so much weird stuff that nothing can surprise them anymore.

[@Baathist_Brawler_1565]

Futurists in the 1700s: "In the future we will be a society of peaceful philosophers" Futurists in the 2000s: "In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war"

[@strogonoffcore]

the two world wars, especially the second, gave quite a scar to mankind

[@storotso]

@@strogonoffcore Also, relevantly, this book aims to portray a bright hopeful future, whereas the point of Warhammer 40k is exactly the opposite.

[@therealgeneralMacArthur]

​@@storotso Also also: you can't really make a table top game based on utopian peace

[@prasoonjha6314]

And neither is correct. Every era comes with its goods and bads. Trying to see the world as either optimistic or pessimistic is naïvity.

[@pedroguilherme868]

Let's hope we're as wrong as they were.

[@SherbertHusky]

This guy predicted the video screen and CGI. What insane powers of speculation you must have to predict that and so many other things correctly.

[@DerHammerSpricht]

Jim Morrison predicted EDM/Drum-n'-Bass

[@francisdec1615]

There was a Roman author predicting space travels 2000 years ago, although his story was supposed to be ironic.

[@prasoonjha6314]

@@francisdec1615 I think you are talking of Lucian's "True Story".

[@Djm95454]

37:45 I actually guffawed at the Irish and Scottish uniting patriotically with England bit

[@alpharius7712]

I love your video/editing style, its really peaceful and intriguing to watch

[@mathieuleader8601]

the glass harmonica sounds so haunting.

[@arcadiaberger9204]

Needs a revival. It's called an "armonica", BTW.

[@fawkewe]

It’s interesting how he got some things at-least partially right. For starters, Slavery Did end, although not in the violent way he predicted. He predicted China and Japan opening their borders, although China is still fairly isolated as of 2024. He predicted the end of Serfdom in Russia, although incredibly early. He predicted the fall of the Ottoman Empire, which was impressive because its decline wouldn’t start for a few decades. He predicted a United Italy, which was impressive because it wasn’t considered until after the Napoleonic War. But most interestingly, he somehow predicted the rise of Atheism. That would’ve been nigh undoable back then, yet he did it.

[@patrickwalsh8913]

How did he predict the rise of atheism? In the book, society is deeply religious and there are almost no atheists

[@blanchjoe1481]

Dear KAT, Thank you for this well presented piece, it is easy to understand why you chose it. I agree with other posters that the obvious basis for this work was to act as a Socioeconomic commentary on the writers own time. However it must be remember that "Futurism" as a concept did not even exist, nor was "Technology" a living part of that writers daily life. When Mercier published this work the late 1700's the primary form of information storage was The Book, and to understand ALL human knowledge, one man could read all the written material in those books, making a pile about as high as a man. In my life time alone I have seen the emergence of twelve ( 12) invented information storage systems ( and I am sure I am leaving some out that I have forgotten ), as result it has become necessary to create artificial memory-machines just to manage the explosive growth of information and knowledge, and this growth rate continues exponentially. Much like reading a prediction of what the creation of heavier than air machine flight would mean in 100 years per Scientific American circa 1890, there is the incredible failure see the development of thermonuclear destruction, or to understand functioning machines beyond the farthest reaches of their known space. The implication is that even our own "Futurism" of 100 years from today is woefully meager. However the interesting point, is that the futurism of the 1700's and the futurism of 2000's is in the differences of focus. Mercier was interested in exposing how advanced human culture and politics had become, where as ours is always based upon a "technological changes". Perhaps this difference is because ( unforeseen by Mercier ) we experienced the world shaking failures of created "Utopias" in the intervening years, and the terrible price created as a result. We have found out what Mercier did not know, that the enlightenment as he understood it, was not a panacea, and could even create greater horrors then was possible for him to ever imagine in his most unguarded nightmares.

[@mitchellcouchman1444]

I must say I disagree with your comment about the next 100 years, most is the 1960-1980s radically over estimated technology in the vast Majority of areas, the only really exception is computers but even in those spaces there is the prediction we would have true AI (not what we have today)

[@Metamerist625]

That was absolutely amazing, very interesting indeed. Thanks for uploading this!

[@Rayrard]

It is always amazing that no one in the deep past could envision a dramatically different APPEARING future. The city of Paris looks more ancient Greek than modern. Like this anecdote still has them in petticoats and living in 18th century homes with horse-drawn carriages. It isn't a huge jump to think that mabe the carriages would propel themselves in the future, or that lights would exist that weren't candles but gave off light "in the way of the sun" with no need to change it. How difficult it is to imagine simple trousers and the concept of the "t-shirt" which is absurdly simple. Or communication across the air which would be fantastic, but is not out of the realm of imagination. The ones in the more modern era predict the idea of smartphones, but they still retain bulky batteries and wires. It is interesting to observe the human imagination does not take dramatic risks with predictions.

[@trudieangelica]

This mindset reveals a great deal about our current society, and how we fixate on technological progress, as much as it reveals that people throughout history had different priorities.

[@Rayrard]

@@trudieangelica good point. Most likely the people in the late 1700's didn't even have the ability to invision (or even fathom) what we know later on as technology, so they focused on social progress or political matters as the future advancements that would matter most. It's likeif you asked a Neanderthal what the future would be like... they just wouldn't have a clue what was even capable of being created in 100,000 years. He'd probably say "the mammoth will be extinct and all of us will have different kinds of fresh meat and fruit year round, and the wooden shelters we make will be stronger and warmer at night"

[@pierren___]

​@@Rayrard the full book is not described here. He did predicted simpler clothing and electricity and internet

[@pierren___]

​@@Rayrard for the greek style it is explained by the improvement it brought since the renaissance + its pretty and natural

[@peppermintgal4302]

​@@pierren___ Electricity was a known phenomenon at the time, I believe.

[@Т1000-м1и]

This was pretty well thought out, not in the way its realistic but just good. Maybe that's what it takes to start a trend

[@YAH2121]

The most interesting part is trying to picture a "futuristic" society that never experienced the industrial revolution. A future, yet religious and agrarian society that is still friendly to monarchy over republicanism.

[@TheMikeyP_]

I’m sitting here thinking “dude no one is gonna believe you could make something that could mimic voices and sounds” in that day and age. Then I remember its 2024 and I’m watching this on my phone while I eat an uncrustable

[@ben-san6055]

Most outlandish part of this future is “no one it above the law” and “2% tax or less with a woolen regularly donating extra to the state”. What a world that would be

[@dontcomply3976]

People can pay voluntary taxes now. I am pretty sure no-one ever has.

[@Game_Hero]

Very unique and creative vision of the future, charming by its intellectualism, respect for the common human, pastoralism and overall simplicity, even if I'm not a fan of how it glamourizes book burning (almost like he had a dent against non-philosophical litterature, especially romance, so much it's funny, "No fun allowed") or the condescendant view of the author on Scotland and Ireland for daring to exist as their own thing. I find it however deeply interesting in how ahead of the curve in mainstream opinion it was on realizing the cruelty of empires and enslaving people and how it treats with respect and sameness human beings of different parts of the world and their cultures (outside Scotland and Ireland), very rare in the 18th century.

[@l4zrh4wk]

Here here

[@GreenLeafUponTheSky]

@@l4zrh4wk Hee hee

[@pierren___]

Some things are really useless... some books are really useless

[@Game_Hero]

@@pierren___ so what? Still not a reason to burn them.

[@pierren___]

@@Game_Hero it actually is lmao. Back in the days you had to save paper

[@CinderellaCostallas]

"Corruption has been stamped out of the legal system" Is probably the most humerus line in this video

[@board-qu9iu]

It’s weirder given the book burning part honestly

[@rochesterjohnny7555]

this was the most interesting thing I've seen in awhile, very well made

[@ashmas900]

Beautiful art collection. Thank you for your hard work! ❤

[@SomasAcademy]

I've heard a little bit about this book from Laurent Dubois' "Avengers of the New World," a book about the history of the Haitian Revolution which references and takes its title from that passage about the statue. Interesting to learn more about how Mercier envisioned the future!

[@Moechtegernpilot1]

Recreational Mathematics? This is definitely a dystopia

[@daniellango3668]

I had a sudoku loving ex date

[@JoeRogansForehead]

Okay .. Kings and Things is one of the best history channel names ive seen. Simple yet elegant

[@BenjaminCherkassky]

What a coincidence! Today, I did a study of this book in my philosophy class, having never heard of it before

[@paulohagan3309]

In university? Or are you in a country where they teach philosophy in high school?

[@Hippopotamus620]

This is really specific and unrelated to the video topic, but I was really surprised to hear Beethoven’s op.18 no.6 slow movement at 2:40, a piece that I spent countless hours practicing and performing this year. Great find!

[@JmsNmnn]

Why is this novel not credited as the first science fiction novel? (Currently credited to Frankenstein) It is pure speculative fiction

[@Apanblod]

There's the story 'A True Story' written by the Syrian author Lucian of Samosata in the second century. Why isn't THAT credited as the first science fiction novel? 🧐

[@charles_caermichael]

If you’re calling speculative fiction the same as sci fi then there’s the source of the issue. I know they’re linked and held equivalent at times but if you count anything speculative why not count religious prophecy? Revelations and Ragnarok. No, no. Speculative fiction is a good word for this, a term I like is social science fiction. Books that reimagine the social and economic landscapes of the future. The Blazing World is a book written in 1666 by Margaret Cavendish, this too is a work that gives beautiful insights into a future only the past could imagine.

[@DerHammerSpricht]

The first sci-fi story ever written was Gilgamesh lmao

[@echopraxia4552]

As Apanblod mentioned, the first known piece of literature best fitting the “sci-fi” genre would likely be A True Story by Lucian of Samosata written in the 2nd century AD. Another contender might be Somnium (The Dream) by Johannes Kepler written in 1608. It has been considered to be one of the earliest works of science fiction by people such as Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov.

[@NecromancyForKids]

By the way, the very first book of a genre is not placed in that genre because it technically didn't exist yet.

[@tom1644x]

Every person should memorialize themselves by recording what they have learned in life, meanwhile 90% of books have been burned and authors are highly censored and punished harshly if they don't conform. Seems contradictory.

[@The_New_IKB]

Of cause it’s contradictory, it’s French!

[@toby1439]

How people in 2012 imagined 2025: Black Ops 2

[@gammamaster1894]

I was thinking about this just the other day, will be a fascinating video

[@KBM345]

I would love to see what people 400 years from now will think of our Sci-fi and just how outlandish it was, I can imagine a lot of ridicule around how Star Trek portrays the 2300s - 2400s despite how good it would be.

[@PRH123]

They may have no way to watch it, if they are living by making stone and wood tools.

[@xjohnny1000]

I find predictions are getting better the more time passes. Many star trek technologies have already been invented, like video calling, ipads, and laser weapons. Teleportation is a thing (for single atoms so far), and warp drives are now a mathematical reality.

[@ldubt4494]

While the Details probably wont be correct, space travel will 100% be a core part of civilization by then.

[@arcadiaberger9204]

@@PRH123 Not a chance. Even if our current infrastructure-dependent civilization breaks down, too much is still known. People will still be able to read books, melt scrap metal and glass, draw wire, &c. We will be able to rebuild civilization from almost any imaginable collapse.

[@PRH123]

@@arcadiaberger9204 think about it, in the 2nd half of the 19th century, long after the industrial revolution had already started, natural resources in many places were laying on the Earth's surface where they could easily obtained, for example the pure copper in northern Michigan, petroleum in Pennsylvania, coal seams near the surface, etc. Those easily accessible resources are gone, most significantly hydrocarbon energy sources that drove the industrial revolution. Those resources are now being sourced from deep under the ocean, or boiled out of oil sands. When humanity is knocked back to the wood and stone age, they won't be able to repeat those steps and easily access those resources again. Not to mention also that the knowledge of how such things are done is in the heads of a very tiny group of people, and each of them is an expert in their narrow field, none is a master of all of them. If those people are knocked off in the descent back to the wood age, the rest of us who can't hardly put together Ikea furniture are not going to be able :)

[@MrMonkeybat]

Five centuries earlier Roger Bacon did predict self propelled vehicles and flying machines. Interesting that this Mercier did predict some kind of video display and sound playback kept separately. Or course fossil fuels are finite so by 2440 a lot of products of the industrial age may have been and gone.

[@storotso]

Fossil fuels are finite but our ability to produce energy isn't, at least in the same way. And I doubt a futurist writing at the start of the industrial revolution would consider the idea that resources are finite, that has only come to the forefront in the last century or so. Regardless, I don't think industrialism should be considered at all when discussing this book since I don't think the author had any way of considering it when writing it.

[@elia9188]

Funny how in this type of utopian decriptions (modern and, evidently, older too) the solution to religious intollerance it's always something on the line of "all the people are (more or less explicity) forced to belive the same, simple, things and dissuaded/prohibited to diverge from that". Where it's supposed to be the enlighted tollerance and liberty in that?!

[@enriquesanchez2001]

Just one person's view.

[@DinoCism]

"There are no atheists, *everyone* is religious... but they're all somehow super chill about it."

[@enriquesanchez2001]

@@DinoCism And so it goes... in that man's mind.

[@elia9188]

​@@DinoCism it's a full on contraddiction. Everyones is religious, but any actual discussion about it is frowned upon and nothing can go beyond simple governament approved beliefs. It looks more the dream of a particulary authoritarian medieval pope that an actual humanist utopia.

[@elia9188]

​@@enriquesanchez2001probably that's what happened, but isn't it a little iphocrytal? "Once my beliefs will be the dominant ones there will be true peace and tolerance". Thats legit how terrorist groups justify they're violence.

[@ignaciohernandez177]

What a wonderful channel it makes you think about the past and how the future would be fascinating 😊

[@piotrzagroba5301]

"The Poles are still grateful to Catherine the Great". Me, as a Pole: pffffff 😂

[@mistycloud4455]

Poland is nothing

[@piotrzagroba5301]

@@mistycloud4455 idk, I'm there right now and it doesn't seem like nothing.

[@krzypl5959]

@@mistycloud4455 don't you just love to randomly spread negativity

[@Big_Dolfie]

​@@mistycloud4455 poland is a conspiracy! It does not exist!

[@leroysanchino]

@@krzypl5959internet in a nutshell

[@AlexBaldwinFTW]

This is truly fascinating, and a wonderful video, thank you.

[@BrandonWilliams-q2t]

This is honestly the best view on religion and belief I've ever heard 🎉😮

[@cedricl.marquard6273]

1:37 "peaceful revolution led by its king" well..... he's got the right spirit😂 it just wasn't peaceful or led by the king

[@stonykark]

It was lead by a piece of him 🤷‍♂️

[@AndyLeeVlogs]

Probably a piece of the dawg

[@Darkside-tr3sx]

I fear to imagine how the world will be 50 years from now. I don’t even want to think of 2400.

[@petrus9067]

Basically that meme of "he doesn't know" (person of 1770) vs "he knows" (modern person) And same, but i guess really humanity lives in cycles, good time, crisis, bad times and repeats. I wonder if the cycle could ever stop. At least every new good times becomes better than the last in most senses

[@FearLoathing7777]

23:03 "none of the meats had any particular seasoning" Nuke it

[@TheRealityWarper08]

​@NathanHigger I'm guessing by your name that you're white(creative btw)?

[@SneedFeedAndSeed]

THIS IS WAY ICEY HERMANO! I CAN TOTALLY FEEL IT!

[@francisdec1615]

Some meat, like Swedish meatballs or real Bolognese sauce barely has any spices in it, only a little onion, carrot and celery etc.

[@LoafyGoblin]

Well no empire means no spices funny enough

[@aussieglizzy6998]

“NO, YOU HAVE TO SEASON EVERYTHING UNTIL TASTES JUST LIKE PAPRIKA” Shut up man

[@theAxolotlKween]

There’s some super interesting stuff in this book, there’s certain parts of it that sound really cool and interesting and a lot of stuff that reminds me of The Giver but portrayed as completely positive.

[@MM-zg4wu]

So sad that even in year 1700 people dream about only few hours of work, but now in XXI century of computers we still don't have it😢

[@maggintons]

Wait a moment.. So some futurologist predicted the exact kind of life changing experience an Astronaut has seeing Earth from space for the first time by describing a religious astronomer ritual... This is such a fascinating fictional world.

[@ethanpf449]

Really good video I always learn new stuff on this channel

[@SirSayakaMikiThe3rd]

I never really though about future predictions made before the industrial revolution, but it makes sense that their predictive capacity was so limited. When we look at the predictions from 100 years ago, they may have been off in many ways, but they were at least in the same ballpark.

[@INSAIN3CAIN3THELIGHTBRINGER]

What an astounding book I love when past, WAY IN THE PAST, authors write about future things (particularly technology) and sometimes hit the nail on the head with things we actually do end up having today. Not by mistake by design I’m sure 🌌

[@alexs7670]

It's kind of remarkable that this guy was so cheesed at coaches he writes a/u fanfiction where they just ban coaches and luxury in general. "Wouldn't the world be nice if I just banned everything I don't like?"

[@mikerotch6234]

The first ever member of r/fuckcars

[@Phantasmerade]

It is noteworthy that Louis received honorary English citizenship for predicting that in the future food would be unseasoned, as the French revoked his citizenship and banned his book for this travesty of a claim. He ate bubble and squeak for the rest of his days before taking his own life by consuming a full gallon of Twinings Earl Grey without milk or sugar. Source: It came to me in a vision.