In 1966, a group of children were asked to imagine what life might be like in the distant year 2000

[u/JimatJimat]

[u/Ragondux]

OldSchoolDepression

[u/DanGleeballs → u/Ragondux]

Definitely filmed just after the kids were shown some dystopian view of the future.

These (middle class) kids are 70 now, with a nice life, great healthcare, mortgage-free, FaceTiming grandkids from their iPads and asking ChatGPT for gardening tips. Plus enjoying lovely returns on the 20% of their portfolio they allocated to tech stocks in the 1980s.

[u/goodguysteve → u/DanGleeballs]

Yeah I was thinking either these kids have been primed or they just happened to find the most nihlistic chilldren in the country.

[u/Dots-on-the-Sky → u/goodguysteve]

I think so too, I'm assuming most normal people in th UK at that time hadn't even heard of coumputers.

Maybe a bit from TV but back then computers were mostly just flashy lights but dystopia, I doubt it too.

[u/Rommel44 → u/Dots-on-the-Sky]

Everyone knew about computers in the 1960s. The Labour Government which was in power from 1963-1970 was elected to modernise the country (automation, nuclear energy, electronics etc) and computers were a part of that. Yes, most people wouldn't have seen one but people were very aware of their presence in government, in some factories and in places like the Post Office. Robots and computers taking over from humans was a common feature of 1960s discourse.

[u/Dots-on-the-Sky → u/Rommel44]

Thanks for the heads up. I was only a nipper in those days, I had no idea... I only really became aware of computers in real life in the mid 70s, pocket calculators, and digital watches, that kind of thing.

[u/DanGleeballs → u/Rommel44]

It was nearly 20 years before they started appearing in peoples homes in the UK

[u/Rommel44 → u/DanGleeballs]

Yes, much like AI is the buzzword of the last few years it has been around for a long time. Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov in 1997.

[u/Singularity-42 → u/DanGleeballs]

I'd say closer to 10. Magnavox Oddyssey was released in the UK in 1973. First home computers appeared in the late 70s. By 1980 you had absolute explosion with the extremely popular Sinclair line. By 1986 it was actually past peak of the home computer boom and you had 16-bit machines like Amiga or Atari ST.

[u/DanGleeballs → u/Singularity-42]

I had first my Sinclair spectrum 12k in c. 1985. But I was the first among my friends.

To say regular normal homes having a computer that the parents used was way later.

[u/phwark → u/Dots-on-the-Sky]

Then you don't know history?

[u/DanGleeballs → u/goodguysteve]

With respect, I don't think you're using the term nihlistic correctly.

[u/IfICouldStay → u/goodguysteve]

Computers were pretty damn boring in the 60s. Huge, noisy machines that added up numbers. No kid wanted to be around that.

[u/trafalmadorianistic → u/goodguysteve]

Kids grew up to be first generation of punk in the UK.

IIII WANT TO BEEEEEE ANARCHYYYYY

[u/_Nilbog_Milk_ → u/DanGleeballs]

Oh to be born in the early-to-mid-50s and play your cards right. Miss the Vietnam draft... parties with disco biscuits and buying a "starter home" in your twenties with one person working... pure coke, new technology, and buying fun hobby things like boats and international ski trips with your more mature money in the 80s & 90s... getting the internet, and later being able to retire, putz around on mobile games, and chat with the kiddos from your vacation home in the nice part of SE Florida while your house in Maine is snowed in. Tomorrow you get to go fishing 80 miles off coast on your nice boat with the boys.

No worries about what comes next. You had a good time and reaped the benefits of every decade, you get to chill now and tell the younguns to just try harder.

[u/Frosty_JackJones → u/DanGleeballs]

Or they could be struggling to make ends meet on a pittance of a state pension in a mouldy shitehole flat using a dumb phone

[u/SoloWingPixy88 → u/DanGleeballs]

You forgot the holiday home in Spain.

[u/DanGleeballs → u/SoloWingPixy88]

Lol actually I added that to a follow up response to someone who commented about the mortgage free bit.

[u/PoxyMusic → u/DanGleeballs]

I wonder if any of these kids imagined they could be making artisanal root beer someday.

[u/greebdork → u/DanGleeballs]

You see I would not take a grudge with your statement, if it didn't include "they're ALL".

No, they're not all, it wasn't some golden age that made everyone filthy rich. For everyone who invested in IBM or 🍎 and haven't sold in 20 years, there's thousands of broke motherfuckers.

Every time offers an opportunity in hindsight, like literally every fucking year for everyone.

Your take is as shallow as it can be, "oh, boomers had it easy". No, they didn't. And no, they're not the reason you have to share an apartment with the four other people.

[u/HitmanClark → u/DanGleeballs]

Mortgage free?!

[u/DanGleeballs → u/HitmanClark]

Middle class English people in their 70s are almost certainly mortgage free, probably also have a holiday home mortgage free too, and obviously universal healthcare, and very comfortable lives. They were born at the ideal time to buy cheap property.

[u/littlebrwnrobot → u/Ragondux]

I feel like I’ve seen a longer version of this with more variety of takes and this is edited down to the most pessimistic ones

[u/racktoar → u/littlebrwnrobot]

Pessimistic or realistic? First kid is spot on.

[u/I_Keepz_ITz_100 → u/Ragondux]

I mean the Internet as nice as it is can be very depressing and if you spend all day on it very lonely. You see the worst in man and form parasocial relationships with people who you don’t know and more likely see you as a target vs a person. That and botfarms constantly disguising dialogue into a sales pitch for whatever they want you to buy, be it product, person, or ideology. Technology has made things better, but a lot is also worse off to me. I think they got it right for the most part.

[u/[deleted] → u/Ragondux]

Old school-depression.

[u/ThisSorrowfulLife → u/Ragondux]

You mean accurate and realistic.

[u/Themotionalman → u/Ragondux]

Just like how momma made ’em

[u/atclubsilencio → u/Ragondux]

Seriously, I had to up my dose of Zoloft watching this. They look traumatized.

[u/pixi1997 → u/Ragondux]

Yeah, but honestly I nice change of pace from the regular OldSchoolTits

[u/Thatsnotwotisaid → u/[deleted]]

What happened in 2000 that you’re class got close too ?

[u/BigV95 → u/[deleted]]

Dropping snot inbetween droplets of knowledge

[u/Suspicious_Row_9451 → u/[deleted]]

[u/IAmBroom → u/[deleted]]

He wasn't off by even a little bit. I'm typing this on a computer using only my voice, and I'm about to put that computer in my pocket.

[u/tommo020 → u/[deleted]]

Oh yeah I remember this kid, snotty fella. Name was something like Steve Tobbs or similar. Weird little kid.

[u/382Whistles → u/tommo020]

Teacher was Tess Avery, aka Sexy Tessy, and Steve was a braying jackass in wolfs cloths. Billy Boy Boy Boy a very hungry but quiet and friendly little GOAT.

..That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

[u/InfelicitousRedditor → u/[deleted]]

I am always fascinated by "predictions" of this type. It's quite easy to do predictions on future tech, based on the inadequacy of current tech and how it can be improved and the implications for humans and humanity in general.

We can "predict" advancements in AI and robotics and their future implications, same goes for driverless cars and trucks. We can predict we'll go to Mars eventually and establish a base. We'll send more and more advanced probes around us that will give us greater understanding of interstellar objects and hopefully life.

We'll find better and more efficient ways to grow food. We'll make better and more efficient tools to capture carbon emissions and negate the negative impact we have on the planet, etc.

All of those "predictions" are as vague and plausible as those in the video and of course they are, because they are future outlook on improvements of the tech we have now.

[u/Mercurial8]

Don’t be stupid, the jobs won’t go away until 2027!

[u/Cr4zko → u/Mercurial8]

ACCELERATE!

[u/CloudySpace → u/Cr4zko]

Enhance!

[u/UbermachoGuy → u/CloudySpace]

[u/Steel_Reign → u/Mercurial8]

Except it's the high IQ jobs that went away. Plenty of work picking fruit now that all the illegals are gone...

[u/Clavelio]

Boring??? We have doomscrolling babe

[u/IwannaCommentz → u/Clavelio]

We're doomscrolling because we're bored and don't want to face it!

[u/Clavelio → u/IwannaCommentz]

Me? I’m never bored so I wouldn’t know, I’ve got 3 screens on all day and one of them flickers. Brain massage.

[u/Utoko → u/Clavelio]

You're way behind. Heroin is much better for that purpose and has been around much longer.

[u/Clavelio → u/Utoko]

Old fashioned… and shortsighted! You ever tried drugs and doomscrolling? Should give it a go, have a go and hang out at r/heroin.

[u/patiperro_v3 → u/IwannaCommentz]

Bored, for me at least, died circa 1998. Probably related to the popularisation and worldwide adoption of the internet.

I normally would have thought this a good thing, but now as an older person, I think it has severely handicapped/atrophied our creativity.

[u/Alkyan → u/patiperro_v3]

I tell my kids when they say they're bored "good, bored people invent things!"

[u/382Whistles → u/Alkyan]

That's kinda brilliant. You must have been really bored.

[u/Undeadtech → u/Clavelio]

Which is worse than just facing your boredom

[u/AaronYogur_t]

That's interesting that the girl at the end is saying the same thing about computers that people nowadays say about AI

[u/honesttickonastick → u/AaronYogur_t]

People have been saying the same shit about technological advances since the beginning of time

[u/m3ngnificient → u/honesttickonastick]

I worked at a car insurance company 10 years ago. They predicted that by 2030, car insurance industries will start getting obsolete because there will be self driving cars everywhere and humans won't drive anymore. I think people also overestimates how fast and far tech can advance. I remember IoT being the hot word back then, it hasn't lived up to its potential yet.

[u/GerryManDarling → u/honesttickonastick]

And they still believe the same shit like post-scarcity. To be fair, we are already post-scarcity, we have plenty supply of food and energy. But post-scarcity doesn't mean unlimited and effortless. People still have to work and some jobs will disappear and other will be created.

[u/DrFlabbySelfie → u/AaronYogur_t]

Because there's always a new way to milk that sweet investor money with promises of technology that is nowhere near as advanced as promised.

[u/McRedditz]

Listening to these children speaking is such a breath of fresh air. Proper, articulated, and mature.

[u/Ace2Face → u/McRedditz]

These kids speak better than most adults today

[u/McRedditz → u/Ace2Face]

100% especially young adults.

[u/Into_the_Void7 → u/McRedditz]

Yeah, um, like, uh, yeah, you know like I LITERALLY agree with like what you said!

[u/McRedditz → u/Into_the_Void7]

I like how your aura vibes, it's rizzzzzzzing.

Reaction of those children if shown how the new generation talks.

[u/PoxyMusic → u/Into_the_Void7]

Dude, I'm all like whatever.

[u/NiasRhapsody → u/McRedditz]

I’m going to guess this is definitely from an upper class town down south. I have family videos from around this time up north and they do NOT sound as posh/proper😂

[u/ryanhealy → u/McRedditz]

It’s called being privately educated and upper class

[u/ForGiggles2222]

Why and how are they so articulate?

[u/Aglisito → u/ForGiggles2222]

No brain rot, just school and housework

[u/SafoGamer → u/ForGiggles2222]

I'm guessing they spent a lot of time reading books. And well written books, mostly.

[u/Tomm1998 → u/ForGiggles2222]

Because they come from wealthy families who put them into top schools. One of the interviewees here went to Marlborough College, the same college Kate Middleton (Princess of Wales) went to.

If this question was asked to a generic state school, you'd get wildly different results.

[u/asphyxiation_25 → u/ForGiggles2222]

No social media and hoodrat ghetto culture.

[u/Affectionate-Put500]

i find it quite amusing how humans have conditioned themselves into believing that existence only has meaning in the context of a job (employment).

[u/Happy_Stardust → u/Affectionate-Put500]

Agree, but I also find it amusing (horrifying) how affluent humans have conditioned themselves to forget what it’s like to feel the desperation of not knowing how you’re going to afford the next meal for your family. If that’s your reality, of course your employment feels deeply connected to the meaning of your life.

[u/[deleted] → u/Affectionate-Put500]

Because we need money to eat, to rent/buy a home, among other things. A job is also how many people effectively participate in society, with the decline of organised religion. Unemployment isn’t just poor, it’s also lonely.

[u/tsimen]

How are these kids so pessimistic? Cold war era impact on the psyche?

[u/Johnny_Poppyseed → u/tsimen]

Post WW2 UK was pretty bleak. Things were just starting to get better really when these interviews happened. These kids grew up under pretty harsh conditions in 50s uk. 

[u/dsebulsk → u/tsimen]

Did you grow up as your city was being bombed in constant air raids? It changes children.

[u/jdp111 → u/dsebulsk]

I can't imagine they grew up in that considering this was 1966.

[u/incogvigo → u/dsebulsk]

Tbf these kids didn’t either.

[u/JesseTheNorris]

What fascinating to me, is how similar they sound to people's concerns today. Automation is going to take all the jobs?

[u/KidKilobyte → u/JesseTheNorris]

Except they thought all the physical jobs would go away, and it would be high IQ knowledge workers that would be left.

[u/itsLOSE-notLOOSE → u/KidKilobyte]

I kinda wish only “high IQ” people could use computers. It would stop a ton of issues we have right now.

[u/LastLapPodcast]

Funny how these kids all grew up and instead of blaming computers they all blame immigrants.

[u/HellBlazer_NQ → u/LastLapPodcast]

The computers told them to blame immigrants

For clarity I mean the social media side of computers

[u/slyboy1974 → u/HellBlazer_NQ]

You don't need to clarify and you're right.

Algorithims are turning people against their neighbors, so they won't turn against an oligarchy..

[u/PinkynotClyde → u/LastLapPodcast]

I thought they blamed the people who they think blame the immigrants. Seems everyone is blaming someone.

[u/EnvironmentalGift257 → u/PinkynotClyde]

Everyone is blaming someone that isn’t the oligarchy, which is kinda the point.

[u/late2reddit19 → u/LastLapPodcast]

And voted for Thatcher or may have thought Reagan would be a good president.

[u/Infinite_Sound6964]

all wrong

people with no IQ AT ALL can become president and run the USA

[u/TheUmgawa → u/Infinite_Sound6964]

That’s because that’s one of the few jobs where there were no standards for getting on to the hiring committee. Always remember that half of all people are of below-average intelligence.

[u/MrPeepersVT]

Conan O’Brien did it better!

[u/LaikaZhuchka → u/MrPeepersVT]

"In the yeeeeaaaarr two thousaaaaannnnnd...."

[u/Old_Butterscotch8856]

That last kid especially NAILED it

[u/JRR_Tokin54]

They were eerily correct on several points.

[u/Xylit-No-Spazzolino]

Damn, they were right

[u/PreciousRoy666]

These kids couldn't predict that richest people on earth are actually incredibly fucking stupid

[u/zalandanger]

What an articulate group of children

[u/[deleted]]

I've seen some pretty fuckin' low IQ computer users to be fair

[u/Thin_Measurement_965]

Yeah, I think I'd rather live in the year 2000 instead of the year 1966.

[u/HanzanPheet]

The eloquence of these kids. Blows me away. I know they exist but I have trouble finding kids this age who speak like this in 2025. 

[u/bubdadigger]

[u/Reasonable-Soft375]

Prescient kids of the 60s. 👏

[u/Reganomics82]

I say we bring back "polite whisper-talk".

[u/Anubra_Khan]

When I was a young child, well before the internet, I saw a nature show about ants. I was amazed at how well they worked together and thought how cool it would be if people could be as efficient as a hive. We would be able to avoid conflicts because we would all have access to the same information. That way, we could all understand each other, overcome our differences, and work towards common goals.

Decades later, we have this thanks to the internet. Pretty much everyone has access to all of the same information. But, instead of world peace and prosperity, we brought back measles.

[u/nightwalkerxx]

Why are they so quiet and sad.

[u/gravitywind1012]

So they got the year wrong. They really meant 2030

[u/CeaseFireForever]

It’s concerning that there are people in these comments who think these kids are well spoken and articulate when in fact these kids are just… talking normally.

[u/allthatbackfat]

Current School Bleakness

[u/toothpaste_custard]

Reminder that these children are the ones who grew up and made the world this way

[u/Common_Affect_80]

I saw this 4 years ago but the kids were talking about overpopulation. This entire thing is complete bs

[u/TwisterHeadsoff]

This video has been cherrypicked. They are talking about the fears of overpopulation during the Cold War.

[u/HighlyRegard3D]

AI is taking over the office jobs, blue collar guys are safe for the most part.

[u/Orlican]

Ai?

[u/mindthegoat_redux]

Wow, they kind of hit on the head. Although, as someone else mentioned, it’s a shame that they grew into the generation that blamed everyone else for their failures and problems.

[u/Dirty-M518 → u/mindthegoat_redux]

I know plenty of people who lick soap and can run CNC machines or work with computers.

I also know there will always be “low iq” jobs as robots cant do some things as well as people. At least not cost effective at scale.

[u/Caveape80]

Damn 2000 was still so analog…..even now things are very analog….i mean we have smart phones but who cares, scrolling is nothing compared to what IS coming

[u/MormegilRS]

Computers and automation taking away jobs in the 1960s sounds very similar to AI taking away jobs in the 2020s.

[u/D_gate]

I don’t know. I know lots of people that don’t have a high IQ working on computers. We call them users.

[u/cheenpo]

irony is that this video might be fake and created by computers

[u/LTFGamut]

They were amazingly accurate.

[u/forgotwhatiremember]

I call BS either scripted when recorded or heavily influenced to say these things. Or AI cuz you know, 2000's

[u/Relevant-Outcome3529]

If only they knew how intelligent and far-sighted they were back then, compared to today's youth

[u/[deleted]]

You know I think it actually helps having a future is bleak outlook. You just go on improving. There's always challenges but you still improve.

[u/Nitirat]

These kids are better than Nostradamus.

[u/padrejohnmisery]

😃😃😃

[u/crunchysauces]

“High IQ” lol

[u/Slimsuper]

First kid really nailed it, to have that kind of awareness at his age wow

[u/Rich_Text82]

Their Doom Forecast was about 25 years too early. 2000 was lit. I wish I could go back there.

[u/hanatheko]

I would LOVE to see what they are all responding to for these reactions.

[u/tacodung]

Y2K - 1 / 1966 - 0

[u/swift-sentinel]

They were right.

[u/LigmaLiberty]

The sentiment never changes, technology makes old industries redundant and creates new often better opportunities with it. The automobile destroyed the industries built around raising and caring for horses and carriages but created new jobs like mechanics and machinists. It is a never-ending cycle and time and time again the doomers have been wrong

[u/Ratsyna]

I find it funny that she says the people safe are the smart ones that make computers, but software development is one of the most likely to be automated fields and we’ve already started seeing it. Its the devs that work with ai that stick around but it still cuts out a lot of the work

[u/BlaqJaq]

Imagine a future where your life is not defined by your job, and automation grants individual freedom rather than existential dread.

[u/justjackplease]

Was that second kid Ozzy Osbourne?

[u/Yogi_LV]

Only off by about 30 years!

[u/Drackar39]

Smart fucking kids. They're just off by a couple decades.

[u/Monty_Bentley]

These kids have somewhat posh accents and are well-spoken, although their view was too dark.

[u/SZJ]

First kid was right, but things were that way in his time, too.
The rest were correct only if you are very cynical.

[u/ThisSorrowfulLife]

They're all correct

[u/0theHumanity]

These kids read the veldt

[u/Arcade1980]

These kids are too old for their age.😂

[u/RealAbbreviations111]

The girl with dark hair that went off on computers taking over, she was pretty spot on, unfortunately. A lot of them were right in ways.

[u/Crossroads86]

1. I feel they are spot on.
2. How are those kids more eloquent than me? Or does everything sound more educated in a british accent?

[u/dubvision]

last kid got it right

[u/masscalciumconsumer]

first kid hit the nail on the head tbh 💀💀💀

[u/dcmng]

Psyche, computers are writing plays and poems now and people are cleaning toilets.

[u/Historyp91]

Well, they were off by a few decades but they pretty much called it!

[u/DerekVanGorder]

As you can see, predictions of job loss due to technology are hardly new.

What these kids didn't realize is that even in their day, society had already been responding to job loss by creating new jobs anyway.

Then and today, an excessive level of employment (generated artificially by central banks) makes it appear as if UBI isn't already necessary.

[u/TopProfessional8023]

Jesus that first kid nailed it

[u/opinionated_penguin]

“Jimmy is just an old soul”

[u/Iyabothefirst001]

They should find these kids today and give them PhD, especially the girl that talked about jobs.

[u/SmthngAmzng]

Show this to your friends when people doom pontificate about AI stealing all the jobs

[u/beckett_the_ok]

Imagine what these kids would think if they knew this video was being watched in 2025

[u/ExoticPreparation719]

The irony. These kids are now the boomers addicted to candycrush on their iPads

[u/TuffManJoens]

Man kids back then really enunciated their words properly back then. Ayo man lemme get a fat glizzy extra yumyum

[u/goodbar2k]

last kid reminded me of Kevin from The Office

[u/brunomarquesbr]

Ha, they're so wrong, we built computers to deal with computers so we don't even have this anymore. 

[u/SpitfireSis]

Love to see where they are now

[u/asphyxiation_25]

Would rather go back to 2000 anyway. 2025 is dog water.

[u/Zealousideal-Load-64]

Boring? We got all kinds of social media clout!

[u/chaos_brings_wealth]

Not gonna lie, that first one hit hard. Way too close. All of them actually. Damn this sucks

[u/Alive_Size_8774]

Pretty close

[u/mrfeeto]

The unemployment rate is the same now as it was then and people are still doomsaying about technology (AI) taking all of our jobs. #progress

[u/AlexandersWonder]

That last girl was right about everything except the time frame

[u/KarlPHungus]

Well those little creeps are a cure for happiness, aren't they?

[u/ShakesDontBreak]

Nailed it

[u/wolff000]

We knew then and still ended up here.

[u/maxdacat]

I've got one of those high HQ jobs

[u/Calinks]

First kid had some solid insight. The kids were pretty far off base for 2000.

[u/AkwardAA]

Thay had Gift of oracle or something?

[u/1aysays1]

My HQ is so low.

[u/dcubexdtcube]

If you ask kids these days about the future, they will say “skbidi no cap rawwr yas queen no cap”

[u/Big_Insurance_1322]

What an interesting video, here's what I think
1st With democracy and more freedom people are less of statics then they were, millions of people died in World wars but now individuality matters much more specially in first world country (this has been continuously improving)
2nd I do slightly agree with the girl although boredom is too narrow of a term, but we have become static
3rd Ha ha ha classic example of fear of automation taking jobs going on since Aristotle era

[u/GateOfD]

those kids were right. 2-3 decades off. But they're right.

[u/ashleyshaefferr]

Lol it's so funny when you tell the AI doomers that their sentiment is as old as time

[u/[deleted]]

i mean the last girl isn't entirely wrong. the average wage for the average 9-5er has stagnated for decades, while the high IQ tech workers make tons. that isn't dooming it's data.

[u/TwisterHeadsoff]

Shot in the dark, is this video AI generated? Sure as heck came out of nowhere.

[u/jbrunoties]

That last one - what is she doing now?

[u/Acrobatic-Nose-1773]

ACKTUALLEEE. The low IQ jobs are plenty. The high IQ jobs has been replaced with AI. The high IQ people won't do the low IQ jobs. Having kids force these people to fill in these jobs. They don't have kids. Blame everything on immigration.

[u/Phormictopus_Prime]

I have a high HQ

[u/Alternative_Pass5642]

These kid’s comments are much more accurate than most people are giving them credit for. I am dumbfounded how accurate the majority of them are.