It is not unusual that science fiction writers sometimes foresee certain events or bizarre turns in social life. More often, of course, with their predictions, they literally “sit in a puddle”, but sometimes the foresight seems mystical.
Some ideas generally seem so bizarre that their appearance could hardly be expected. But, for example, a dozen literary thoughts, fantastically embodied in reality.
10. Kasparo-Karpov system
The Strugatskys didn’t just take a completely random combination of surnames as a substitute for some “sophisticated formula” - they themselves couldn’t imagine what could be behind this fantastic method of accepting and processing significant amounts of information. In fact, the name covered a certain way of transferring a human person to an atmosphere of artificial intelligence.
It is known that at the time of writing the story Garry Kasparov was not at all in the world, and Anatoly Karpov only went to school. Perchik adds that “Kasparov” is only the pseudonym of a young Baku man by the name of Weinstein.
The historical fact is that the tables and timing of the uncompromising fights of these two illustrious grandmasters of the “old” and “new” chess schools formed the basis for the training of artificial intelligence systems that controlled chess supercomputers. As a result, in 1997 the reigning world champion lost the car “outright”.
9. Kvass “Nikola”
The work of Victor Pelevin can be treated differently. But the fact that this writer left a mark not only on bookshelves, but also in our everyday life is unequivocal.
Viktor Olegovich leads a very secretive lifestyle. He tries to laugh it off with restraint on questions about the “technology of creativity”. And how to perceive the fact that almost a hundred design decisions and advertising slogans expressed by Victor (through the lips and deeds of his literary heroes) at different times received a sign of protection of rights and are found to us, literally, on every counter? It’s easy to find kvass “Nikola” (the motto “no-stake”) right now in the department store. Greetings from 1999 - The Generation P novel.
8. Fight Club
Chuck Palahniuk always shocked the reader - such is the style and tradition of the author. Published in 1996, the novel is not enough to say “stirred up the masses” - what can I say, it has become a cult.
The idea, which puts the protagonist in a confrontation with the society of a standard office, standard life, standard apartments - and, as a result, in a confrontation with the standard of self, literally shifted certain strata in society.
Repeatedly staged on the theater stage, twice filmed ... The people were so "hooked" on the plot theme that the underground "fight clubs" began to grow like mushrooms after the rain. And most of them were, of course, illegal and semi-criminal.
7. Forensic methods
In a series of adventures about a brilliant private investigator, Arthur Conan-Doyle described as a literary hyperbole such technical means and methods of collecting evidence that seemed ridiculous and inapplicable in practice. Collecting particles of ash, analyzing the hairs on the hat, looking at micro-traces and tiny scratches. All this anecdotally emphasized the quirks of a literary character.
But gradually, all these funds entered the arsenal of forensic scientists. A significant role was played by the development of technical means, including microscopy. But a much greater influence was exerted by the gradual accumulation and systematization of archival information.
6. The Superman (Nietzsche)
Some fantastic ideas would be better off staying on book pages. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche put forward the idea of a certain “next step” in the development of the human personality - the idea of a superman. This is not “Batman” or “Superman” in the ordinary sense, physically the “superman” differs little from the average person. But his personality is developed according to slightly different moral and philosophical laws, opening new horizons for socialization and personal development.
Alas, this idea was used in a rather primitive way by the Nazis. In their ideology, the right to “become a superman” was assigned to a certain “chosen race”, while the rest were denied the right to simply “be human”.
5. Dead Souls
Not everyone knows how precisely this epoch-making work was not completed - what we have the opportunity to read is less than a third of the author’s intention. But even what was, Nikolai Vasilievich was more than enough for a reliable description of completely unusual stories.
To hell with them, with Manilovsky "bridges". Gogol anticipated (and perhaps only translated into Russian?) The large-scale construction of financial pyramids.
The very idea of accepting pieces of cut paper equivalent to “simple money” was, at the same time, breakthrough and vicious. Gogol alphabetically showed what the financier would do, having received a similar instrument in his hands: he would begin to sell air. Moreover, Chichikov was relatively honest: he was selling not “clean air”, but only other people's debt obligations.
4. One-armed bandits
Even if a person is not inclined to gambling, the term “one-armed bandit” is probably familiar to him, at least in fantastic and detective works. Compact racks full of electronics make it easy to part with a certain amount of money in exchange for a bewitching “pleasure” to observe flickering of color pictures.
This is a gambling business. But in any receiving bank (and even at the entrances to stores), we sometimes observe very similar rows of high-tech devices. They are only called “banking terminals” and the stated goal is to communicate with the client. For example, receiving or making all the same money.
Is there a big difference? But in principle it is not! Artem Senatorov and Oleg Logvinov in 2012 published the novel Ascetic Russia, in which this difference was erased at the legislative level. And, it seems, they got ahead of the bankers, prompting them another opportunity to "punish" customers who prefer cash.
3. Submarine
The very concept of a “hiding vessel” (in the wording of Efim Nikonov) was quite obvious to all shipbuilders from time immemorial. Note: Nikonov presented his project to Peter I (in 1721).
Nikonov's vessel was practically not applicable. Alas, ahead of its time. A century and a half later, the highly classified work of the construction of "hidden vessels" was almost simultaneously deployed in the United States, Britain, Germany and Russia.
The fact that Jules Verne very accurately described the design of a practical submarine (“20,000 leagues under the sea”) was, rather, a leak of strategic information. Because by the time the novel was published (1870), combat submarines managed to sink five warships and the number of supply vessels not recorded in the registers.
A rare case: engineers are ahead of science fiction.
2. The atomic bomb
The first and most comprehensive literary description of the use of atomic weapons must be recognized by Herbert Wells's novel, The Liberated World. The book was published in 1913 - the year of creepy and inaccurate howitzers, horse-drawn carts, ambitious balloons and clumsy compared to the airships of plywood shelving planes.
Herbert Wells did not describe atomic weapons in strict formulations (and he couldn’t, atomic physics was just getting on its feet). He described the concept of using weapons close to absolute in terms of their impact on tactics and politics.
It is funny that in some of the chapters even today it is quite possible to conduct classes on life safety.
1. Miniature headphones
Back in the early fifties, Ray Bradbury mentioned for granted that with miniaturization of electronics it will become not only possible, but also convenient to use miniature devices inserted directly into the ear for listening to music and radio programs. Anticipating the appearance of headphones - "droplets." This was in the landmark novel “451 ° Fahrenheit” (1953).
By the mid-fifties, “droplets” had already firmly entered the arsenal of special services, but were still a curiosity for the general public. This allowed Ray to use the idea a second time, in the same 1953 publishing the story “The Killer”. It addressed the issues of the overproduction of radio communications gadgets and the crowding out of human communication with “mobile content”.
It turns out that in one year, Ray Bradbury was able to anticipate not only the spread of revolutionary technical devices, but also related social reforms.