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It was definitely a shared mythology (meaning both the East&West) but it's true that its "force of attraction" (for lack of a better expression) has somewhat fa
by paganel 5y ago
It was definitely a shared mythology (meaning both the East&West) but it's true that its "force of attraction" (for lack of a better expression) has somewhat faded in the last 15-20 years, I'd say the 1980s was the pinnacle of it all.
We don't have Star Wars-like movie phenomenons about computers and vaccines, and we especially don't have music like this [1] that would make us dream about computers the same way it makes us dream about space.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMoCM_FgLP8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMoCM_FgLP8
Later edit: I'll just blatantly copy-paste a high-voted comment from that YT link which better explains it:
"""
I was born in the USSR, and in the 80s we thought about space, other planets, stars. We read good science fiction. We dreamed of participating in all this. We wanted to be pilots, build rockets, explore space. We listened to news about cosmonauts, without distinction of Soviet or American. We thought that space was a place for cooperation of all mankind. We wanted peace and development.
But, everything collapsed in one moment. Now children do not want to go into space. They don't want to be like Gagarin or Armstrong. They want to be like Kardashian or Deripaska. This is a tragedy for many of us.
And this music is just a reminder of what we have lost.
"""
- nonrandomstring 5y ago> But, everything collapsed in one moment. Now children do not want to go into space. They don't want to be like Gagarin or Armstrong. They want to be like Kardashian or Deripaska. Man, this really hurts to read. But there is some hope. As I was was saying to a prominent lisper just the other day, I think "space and the planet" is something young people are refocussing on. I sense a long overdue and deep rejection of "fast cars, money and fame" in the air.
- bryanrasmussen 5y agoI'm pretty sure there were kids who wanted to grow up to be James Dean or Marilyn Monroe when they were prominent.
- Pamar 5y agoNot sure. Probably they dreamed of becoming Babe Ruth or another sport star, maybe?
- bryanrasmussen 5y agoBabe Ruth would have been another generation, they might have dreamed of being Joe DiMaggio (who Monroe was married to for a bit) but he was also a bit old when she was a star so I would guess they were more interested in being Mickey Mantle or Hank Aaron.
- Pamar 5y agoYup, sorry for the wrong reference. What I meant is that I believe (might be wrong) that earlier generations would not be so taken with the idea of becoming showbiz stars. Actors/actresses, singers etc. would be famous, well regarded and so on, but I think they were seen more like a sort of "aristocracy" while, at least for boys, the aspirational models were more in the field of sports.
- bryanrasmussen 5y agoUntil very recently actors, singers were seen as being of a low social class, hence the scene in My Favorite Year https://youtu.be/F7m5VwOpShQ?t=174 https://youtu.be/F7m5VwOpShQ?t=174 when one upper class fellow says to another "I think Allan Swann is beneath us" and the other replies "Of course he's beneath us, he's an actor"
- tokai 5y agoThat comment is pure make believe. Children in the 80s wanted to be Madonna or something else. There has never been more science fiction available, or other space related media, through games, movies, and all kinds of internet resources. The public wasn't actually that enamoured with space during the Cold War, but it has turned out as an enduring myth. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265964603000390 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026596460...
- mellavora 5y agoThat's a beautiful quote. The collapse is a tragedy for all of us. I do see a change, we are starting to see that people look at i.e. Greta Thunberg as a heroine/role model. So there is a shift underway. but it is a slow shift, and takes a generation to play out.
- vt85 5y ago[dead]
- refurb 5y agoHilarious. The kids who wanted to be Neil Armstrong were the odd ones out. This is some idealistic view of the past that most people succumb to. Not sure if it’s hardwired in our brains or just a consequence of fading memories. The kids will be just fine, don’t worry.
- Loughla 5y agoRight? It's actually cool now to be into computers, science, technology, and astro-anything. In (from what I gleam from these comments) the glory days for science and technology, of the what, 70's and 80's, kids who were into these things were absolutely destroyed by bullying and hate from their peers. Computer nerd was, and is, a stereotype. The kids will be fine. They're getting better every generation.
- jmeister 5y agoWow. This comment sent me down a rabbit hole. Thank you.