Will the 21st century have distinctive decades?

[VM1138]

Originally Posted by callmemaybe

I agree, the decades were more like 1947-62, 1963-70, 1971-79, 1980-91, 1992-00, and 01-present. The thing is though, there's not really even a sign that the 10's will be different from the 00's. and the 00s were pretty similar to the 90s all the way through to 2009.

Go watch a TV show from the 1990s. Culture was drastically different in the '90s. There was some spillover into 2001 or 2002, but beyond that it became distinctively 2000s, meaning rap was prevalent, clothing styles changed, movies had different tones and were shot different (film went by the wayside in favor of digital, creating a different look).

We're still in the spillover period right for the 2000s, but already we've seen some changes in technology that could potentially drastically alter the 2010s.

By the end of the decade we could have cars that drive themselves.

[callmemaybe]

Originally Posted by VM1138

Go watch a TV show from the 1990s. Culture was drastically different in the '90s. There was some spillover into 2001 or 2002, but beyond that it became distinctively 2000s, meaning rap was prevalent, clothing styles changed, movies had different tones and were shot different (film went by the wayside in favor of digital, creating a different look).

We're still in the spillover period right for the 2000s, but already we've seen some changes in technology that could potentially drastically alter the 2010s.

By the end of the decade we could have cars that drive themselves.

Rap was prevalent in the 90s but I agree, the 90s were different. The thing is though...

In a strange way you might even say the 2000s and this decade are 'more 90s than the 90s itself'. Here's why. The 90s still had a lot of the 80s attitudes and appearances left over. But the things that made the 90s different from the 80s only got more prevalent after the 90s ended.

The things that made the 90s different from the 80s were hip hop music, alternative and grunge music as opposed to new wave and glam metal, the end of the Cold War, the presence of the Internet, goatees and baseball caps, tattoos and piercings, raves, common use of the terms 'political correctness' and 'globalization', profanity and graphic violence on TV (in the 80s it was mostly limited to movies) and profanity just being generally acceptable speech, hipsters, irony being king, and for the kids bubble gum pop princes and princesses and random cartoons with almost no plots.

The truth is pretty much all of these key '90s things' are still common in the present time and some of them are actually bigger now than they were in the 90s. Pretty much all those things I listed were beginning to become popular in the 90s and were seen as '90s things' when it actually was the 90s, and are inescapable of notice now.

Most of the things the 90s shared with the 80s died by the early 2000s, and most of the things people miss about the 90s are the things it shared with the 80s. Starting in the early 90s, maybe even the late 80s, you had a transition from '80s culture' to 'early 21st century' culture and the 90s really was just the twilight of those two periods, not so much a distinct entity to its own.

[belmont22]

I think the 21st century will be divided into three parts probably. 2000-2035 or so, which the 1990s will be seen as the leadup to, 2035-2065 and 2065-2100.

[Phoenix2017]

For the posters who had predicted China's rise to super-power status and overtaking the U.S. starting in the 2010's and beyond, I must confess that I am just a little skeptical that this will actually occur. Why? What happened to the U.S. from the 1980's - 2000's, when U.S. manufacturing offshored and outsourced itself to China en masse, will likely happen (and may already be happening, in fact) to China in the present, where manufacturing companies are now leaving China for even lower-cost geographical regions. What is interesting is that history may be appearing to repeat itself, here...

[RememberMee]

I think it's all perspectives based largely on mass cult. As a person who don't listen popular music and who don't watch TV, I don't see that many difference between 90s, 00s and now. Since most of Americans (especially on the lower end) adopted timeless baggy. wrinkled X sized sweatshop outfits you can't even tell the decade by the way average people dress in the middle America. Same with hairstyle, except maybe that there are more and more of the butched up women. I'm devoid of mass cult as it's humanely possible without locking yourself in a bunker, and I just don't see much of a difference, except maybe new generations of males appear to be somewhat more effeminized and "emotional" in some ways. As a mass cult tabula rasa I can tell you that if I walk on a modern sitcom and have to watch, it doesn't strike me as something drastically different as sitcoms from 1990s. The same social setup, exactly the same stereotypes to enforce (except, more emphasis on the acceptance of gayness). What strikes my eye is how bland and PC modern sitcoms has become, disappearance of zest and satire is rather striking, the holes are patched up with with banalities and more outrageous vulgarities (than in 1993). On the second thought, there was plenty of the bland, about nothing, stereotype laden shows in 1990s too, so it's nothing new.

[mofford]

I hope we see plenty of technological advancement this century that brings about distinctive decade changes. Who knows what it will be. Rising ocean sea levels.....new and cheap water desalination plants that can pump all the fresh water needed anywhere, to any desert farmer in the world.

Let's fix mom and dad's genetic imperfections !

How about those new atmosphere CO2 filter machine nodes,, and the new ocean current pump routers, that makes for a more pleasant and predictable climate ?

Vehicles not running on gas, and driving themselves while you chat with your robot in the rear lounge of your auto-caddy.

How about a switch on each ear lobe to turn off the sound from your ear canal to your brain before you go to sleep every night ? I like that idea. Invisible sound dampening shield around your person or property. Force fields anyone ?

Laser power tools ? Micro machines injected in your blood stream, that eat the cholesterol out of your arteries and veins ?

[Nolefan34]

Things have changed a lot since the 90's. Its just harder for older people to recognize. The older you get, the less distinction you may have about different decades. The older you get, the less you keep up with popular styles and fads. Thus the more things stay or seem to stay the same to you. From my view, the 1990's were just as distinct as the 80's, 70's, 60's, and 50's.

In the 90's, music was drastically different than today. The grunge/alternative rock explosion began in roughly '92 and coincided with the hip-hop/rap explosion around the same time. These music movements remained popular from roughly 1992-1998, and then tapered off. Today, electronic music is big which wasn't the case back in the 90's. Also, Spanish/Latin music has broken through to the mainstream.

Clothing has changed quite a bit especially for men. The Loose/baggy style that was popular in the 90's went out of style around '01-'02. Men's clothing has become much more fitted and tighter overall. The only place I still see guys wearing pants sagging down their backsides is in poorer urban black neighborhoods. I cannot speak for women's clothing styles since I am a guy, but I'm sure that has changed a lot too. Thinking back to the 80's and early 90's, women who worked in offices used to wear women's versions of men's suit jackets which made them look like football players. That look is long gone.

Colors that were popular in the 90's are no longer popular. I remember throughout the 90's, every newer home in American seemed to have beige, white, or tan wallpaper and furnishings. Cabinets, sofas, and walls were all beige, white, or some combination of those colors. In the 00's, stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, and wood cabinets became the popular interior designs. In Florida, every home today has either wood floors or tile floors. Everyone ripped out their carpets in the late 90's/early 00's and replaced it with tile or wood.

Cars have changed substantially and are far superior today than 90's vehicles in every aspect. The American auto makers have begun to catch up with the Japanese in building stylish, reliable, efficient vehicles. Large SUV's become popular from about '98 onwards. We also have cool retro cars today like the Mustang, Camaro, Challenger, and Charger that are a vast improvement from those same models of the 90's.

Cell phones, texting, high speed internet, and Facebook are just a few other revolutionary inventions that weren't around in the 90's. Cell phones were around, but few had them until roughly 2001-fowards.

9/11 changed the world, especially America. How we think, act, view things has changed drastically from the 90's. Surveillance cameras are everywhere in society. Everything is monitored and recorded. In the 90's, you could walk down streets in NYC and not worry that you were constantly being watched and monitored. That sense of privacy has gone away. Even small towns now have surveillance cameras everywhere monitoring everything.

[flopito]

I can think of one. Logic say there will be first decade with no war.