I’ve been thinking about time travel… let’s hope that it’s impossible. If they ever invent it, it could be VERY embarrassing. Can you imagine going back forty years and explaining to someone what life was like in the 1990s?
So, in the 1990s do you all fly around in helicopters?
Uh no, no we don’t. We walk, drive cars, catch trains and…
What, just like in the 1940s?
Yep.
So what’s different?
We have more cars. So we build lots more roads.
Ah, I see, to make sure all the cars flow smoothly. And do they?
No. So we knock down lots of houses and trees and build really big roads, called freeways.
And do they make all the cars flow smoothly?
Umm, not really, look, I’ll get back to you on this.
Okay, what technological breakthroughs have you made?
We’ve perfected technology such as lasers, magnetic media, infra-red…
And what are they used for? Healing the sick? Feeding the hungry? Stopping pollution?
Ummm.. they’re respectively used for playing hiss-free music, making sure you don’t miss a movie when you’re out, saving having to get up and walk over to the TV to change the channel…
Haven’t you done anything useful?
Oh, we have got a new thing, called the Internet. It’s a global network of computers. It can transmit information to anywhere in the world in seconds.
That sounds good. What’s that used for?
Lightbulb jokes, mostly.
