A meme

[firecat]

'If someone from the 1950s suddenly appeared today, what would be the most difficult thing to explain to them?'

This is a strange meme. I know plenty of people who were alive during the 1950s. If they are any indication, the most difficult thing to explain is how to use a modern cell phone or smart phone to make a phone call while not accidentally doing anything else with it.

(I recently got my dad what was advertised as a basic, unsmart cell phone. Every time I picked it up, I managed to trigger the voice recognition function.)

I think the other most difficult thing to explain would be certain kinds of humor that have come about since the 50s. I'm not sure how to explain which kinds, though.

Comments

[firecat]

D'ya think some of them would also be surprised at the relative rarity of cigar smoking?

[onyxlynx]

They would be surprised by the relative rarity of smoking, period; I remember when people smoked everywhere (and thank God that is no longer true). I have a still-vivid picture of a room with layers of smoke (both parents puffed until the early '60s).

[firecat]

My folks both smoked until the mid-70s, so yeah.

And I think travelers from the '50s might be pretty weirded out by some of the things we call martinis these days.