Hello! Came across this website. It contains strange predictions about the future: https://designyoutrust.com/2018/12/closer-than-we-think-40-visions-of-the-future-world-according-to-arthur-radebaugh/. I mean, "Push-Button education"...?! Absurd. Best regards, Mac Juli
Well, some "absurd" things have happened, e.g. fully electric cars and the ability to get a recognized, advanced education by means of mental effort and a screen in your living room - or portable - including remote proctoring of exams. That beats the heck out of having to show up in a howling winter storm for a few hours of "push-button education." I'm glad one thing is here - and the other isn't. Predicting something that's two weeks away is a crapshoot. Long term predictions - realistically, what do you expect? Only the bad ones (like climate change) usually come true.
And I still find it amazing that I can sit here at home and use my portable screen (laptop) to communicate with people world-wide. I can even pull up pictures of Mars, taken by a camera that was sent from Earth, very carefully landed there, and is able to send the pictures electronically through space and back to Earth. That's my kind of progress! Others can keep their bubble-homes and hover-cars. I'm not George Jetson - but that dude was funny, though and I kinda liked him.
Still waiting for that orbital hospital so I can have my cancer cured by absorbing sunlight while sitting in a transparent ball in space.
A niche interest of mine is "retrofuturism" - basically old videos and material predicting the future. Think of Disney's Tomorrowland from 1966 which was designed to be 1986. Anyway, the funniest thing I ever saw was not a prediction at all, but a discussion from the 1970s about the future of in vitro fertilization (IVF). They had just performed it successfully on lab animals and were considering the ethical issues of doing this with humans. One of the speakers said the biggest issue was "obviously" determining whether the lab tech was the father due to his role in the process.
I dunno whether to cry or laugh, Dustin. Would a female lab tech have been the "mother?" But I do remember a terrible instance of a doctor (MD) with a fertility practice. Unapprehended, over a period of quite some years. he was eventually arrested, tried and punished, due to repeatedly "replicating" himself by using his own sperm - I forget, but I think it was during artificial insemination; the events likely pre-dated IVF. It was very sad to see the grown children of some of his patients. Their resemblance to their biological father was eerie - and striking in similarity.
You beat me, Rich. Mine too. Melanoma, from too much sun 40 years ago (see my 1983 pic at left.) Done and dusted, 3 years ago. No more.
Are you sure he was punished? Maybe it's a different guy, but I heard he didn't face any punishment because he wasn't, technically, violating any laws with what he was doing. At least, not at the time he was doing this. Now, there are (more) laws in place, but it wasn't a legal issue. He might have lost his medical license due to the ethical implications, but that's not that much of a punishment.
That could very well be. It was a long time ago - maybe 35-40 years and I can't remember all the details -- it was a TV documentary. There was plenty of footage of the Doc himself and some of the grown children. I'm fairly sure there were lawsuits, but not at all sure, now I think of it, of criminal penalties - and yes I'm sure he lost his medical licence. I think there were something like 50 or 60 children he was alleged to have fathered this way, over the years. I'll see if I can dredge this thing up and we can confirm. As of right now, I'm 99% sure you're right.
You're 100% right, Rachel. I looked him up and this is the guy. Former Dr. Donald Cline, now in his 80s. He did lose his medical license, permanently, and paid a $500 (!) fine. He has paid out settlements of about $1.3 million in lawsuits. NO JAIL TIME. There are 94 Cline siblings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Cline In looking for him, I found several other Docs, some from other countries, e.g. France with the same sad story. One fathered about 200 of his patients' children. Thanks for setting me straight about no jail time. It's best to know the truth.
Yikes. 200 kids. That's enough to easily lead to accidental incest. It already happens (though not super common) when there are just a couple siblings who don't know each other until they meet as adults, never mind 200 siblings.
That was mentioned in something I read on ex-Dr. Cline. The greatest number of Cline siblings reside within a 25-mile radius and as they grew up -- there was a better statistical chance than ANYBODY would want of two forming a close relationship, not knowing of their common origin.
