4 ms·

I have a lot of PTSD from Y2K, my mum was convinced that it was going to cause global collapse and she did pretty massive prepper level stuff. I was super into

by neom 2y ago

I have a lot of PTSD from Y2K, my mum was convinced that it was going to cause global collapse and she did pretty massive prepper level stuff. I was super into computers and I didn't think anything would happen but my mum was SO happy that the "computer systems that control the world" would fall to bits. Dec 1999 was a very dramatic month in our house and January was a very confusing time (Are we really going to spend the next 5 years eating all these tins of beans?). It created a real weird feeling in me, still get a real discomfort when I see "Y2K" written.

ta988 2y ago
How does she feel now that computers control the world even more?
OccamsMirror 2y ago
Have you told her about 2038? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem
pants2 2y ago
I had a family friend who was convinced Y2K would be the collapse of society. He bought a safehouse in the woods and spent nearly a year stocking it with all sorts of prepper stuff. After Christmas they packed up everything from their lives and drove to the safehouse only to find it had been looted...
- theoreticalmal 2y ago
  Gosh I’m sorry but I find that really really funny. I have family that are peppers and I think there’s a very very fine line between “we have extra food and water and fuel in a big snow storm hits” and “I have a mental illness and secretly take glee in the collapse of society”
  - whilenot-dev 2y ago
    Take Shelter[0] (2011) is a great movie there, just not on the funny side. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Shelter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Shelter
dailykoder 2y ago
I was only 9 years old then, but nowadays I find it interesting that a number, which was arbitrarily chosen, caused so much fear and stuff. It's just a random number. Why were people scared of numbers?
- Retr0id 2y ago
  Y2K was not an imaginary problem, there were real bugs, which for the most part got fixed in time.
  - dailykoder 2y ago
    I much rather meant the fear of the unknown and people thinking that the world would end in pure chaos, not as much the technical background. And all of that because a number of a birth year from one person was chosen.
    - theoreticalmal 2y ago
      Must’ve been an important person
    - iamflimflam1 2y ago
      The unknown was just how many systems would be impacted. I don’t think there were many people (I’m sure there were some) who were scared simply because of the number. It’s very hard for developers nowadays to comprehend this kind of problem as date handling is now much more sophisticated (though still seems to cause a ridiculous number of bugs). A lot of systems that were developed in the 70s, 80s and even the 90s(!) just assumed that storing the year using 2 digits was more than sufficient. The same attitude as now was pervasive back then - don’t worry, this will be replaced in a couple of years time. It was the realisation that many of these systems were still in use as the year 2000 approached that trigger the effort and education needed for Y2K. The education was needed because many businesses did not even know they might have a problem. The fact that there were no massive disasters is down to the effort that was put in.
adrianmonk 2y ago
My friend's mom did something similar. After January 1, 2001 came and went without incident, he made sure to periodically check in with her to find out if she had finished eating all the canned goods she had stockpiled yet.
- beAbU 2y ago
  Wait. Was Y2K supposed to happen on 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z, or was it 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z? I know technically the 21st century only started on the latter, but AFAIR Y2K was the former?
  - adrianmonk 2y ago
    Oops, you're right! I was very sleepy when I typed 2001.
0xEF 2y ago
I think some people wanted collapse, myself included. I was just entering my 20's around that time, thus learning about things like credit scores and predatory lending. Ending up thinking "boy, it sure would be great if that awful system just all fell apart, eh?" Silly me.
- jonathanlydall 2y ago
  Sounds like you had also watched Fight Club :)

by neom 2y ago

ta988 2y ago

How does she feel now that computers control the world even more?

OccamsMirror 2y ago

Have you told her about 2038? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem

pants2 2y ago

I had a family friend who was convinced Y2K would be the collapse of society. He bought a safehouse in the woods and spent nearly a year stocking it with all sorts of prepper stuff. After Christmas they packed up everything from their lives and drove to the safehouse only to find it had been looted...

theoreticalmal 2y ago
Gosh I’m sorry but I find that really really funny. I have family that are peppers and I think there’s a very very fine line between “we have extra food and water and fuel in a big snow storm hits” and “I have a mental illness and secretly take glee in the collapse of society”
- whilenot-dev 2y ago
  Take Shelter[0] (2011) is a great movie there, just not on the funny side. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Shelter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Shelter

dailykoder 2y ago

I was only 9 years old then, but nowadays I find it interesting that a number, which was arbitrarily chosen, caused so much fear and stuff. It's just a random number. Why were people scared of numbers?

Retr0id 2y ago
Y2K was not an imaginary problem, there were real bugs, which for the most part got fixed in time.
- dailykoder 2y ago
  I much rather meant the fear of the unknown and people thinking that the world would end in pure chaos, not as much the technical background. And all of that because a number of a birth year from one person was chosen.
  - theoreticalmal 2y ago
    Must’ve been an important person
  - iamflimflam1 2y ago
    The unknown was just how many systems would be impacted. I don’t think there were many people (I’m sure there were some) who were scared simply because of the number. It’s very hard for developers nowadays to comprehend this kind of problem as date handling is now much more sophisticated (though still seems to cause a ridiculous number of bugs). A lot of systems that were developed in the 70s, 80s and even the 90s(!) just assumed that storing the year using 2 digits was more than sufficient. The same attitude as now was pervasive back then - don’t worry, this will be replaced in a couple of years time. It was the realisation that many of these systems were still in use as the year 2000 approached that trigger the effort and education needed for Y2K. The education was needed because many businesses did not even know they might have a problem. The fact that there were no massive disasters is down to the effort that was put in.

adrianmonk 2y ago

My friend's mom did something similar. After January 1, 2001 came and went without incident, he made sure to periodically check in with her to find out if she had finished eating all the canned goods she had stockpiled yet.

beAbU 2y ago
Wait. Was Y2K supposed to happen on 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z, or was it 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z? I know technically the 21st century only started on the latter, but AFAIR Y2K was the former?
- adrianmonk 2y ago
  Oops, you're right! I was very sleepy when I typed 2001.

0xEF 2y ago

I think some people wanted collapse, myself included. I was just entering my 20's around that time, thus learning about things like credit scores and predatory lending. Ending up thinking "boy, it sure would be great if that awful system just all fell apart, eh?" Silly me.

jonathanlydall 2y ago
Sounds like you had also watched Fight Club :)