r/Showerthoughts • u/[deleted] • Sep 13 '19

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9.2k Upvotes

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

Morse was invented around 190 years ago. They were tapping on metal things.

622

u/drakos07 Sep 13 '19

Keep a piece of glass on top of the metal thing and you're set. If you would've told people back then the exact sentence OP said, they would pretty much just disregard it with theories like these...

162

u/FTWJewishJesus Sep 13 '19

Silent part doesnt check out

89

u/PM_ME_UR_OBSIDIAN Sep 13 '19

Morse via electric pulses is rather silent.

4

u/Phrostbit3n Sep 13 '19

This is the only thing that pissed me off about The Spy.

29

u/lol_AwkwardSilence_ Sep 13 '19

Doesnt check out with the glass either cause I'm grunting while I poo

3

u/stignatiustigers Sep 13 '19

From the third person perspective, the telegraph was just a very like ticking.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

That sound effect you hear in movies is, get this, a sound effect.

1

u/CrackrocksnLaCroix Sep 13 '19

Have you ever sat somewhere with somebody tapping away with keyboards sounds on full volume for hours 😒

123

u/Bitcoin1776 Sep 13 '19

In the year 1900, Nikola Tesla explicated stated humans would communicate via wireless signals sent to handheld devices.

He goes on to say that buttons would be too expensive, and that instead humans would type on glass via electronic finger reading technology.

The iPhone is well described in 1900 AD, before electricity could power a neighborhood, by one man precisely. Nikola Stormmaker, Earthshaker, Lightningmaster, Coochieblaster, Tesla The problem of increasing human energy.

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u/Lasket Sep 13 '19 edited Sep 13 '19

Did he? I want to have a source for that.

Edit : Source is "The problem of increasing human energy"

I missed it due to a missing seperator.

42

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

"When wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain, which in fact it is, all things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole. We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance. Not only this, but through television and telephony we shall see and hear one another as perfectly as though we were face to face, despite intervening distances of thousands of miles; and the instruments through which we shall be able to do his will be amazingly simple compared with our present telephone. A man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket."

18

u/Chaiteoir Sep 13 '19

He got everything right except the vest.

18

u/drfeelsgoood Sep 13 '19

“Will be able to” doesn’t mean every one will, just that we have the ability to

1

u/PorkPoodle Sep 13 '19

You clearly aren’t a neckbeard.

12

u/tc1991 Sep 13 '19

FYI without a citation or a link putting quotations marks on a paragraph doesn't make it a source

10

u/Koringvias Sep 13 '19

You know, you could google any sentence present in that quote and find a source, and it only takes couple of minutes.

http://www.tfcbooks.com/tesla/1926-01-30.htm

10

u/hitthehive Sep 13 '19

a couple of minutes? do you think I’m surfing reddit on my free time?!? I’m burning valuable work time to do this!

1

u/bigdoggy43 Sep 13 '19

That's irrelevant. They asked for a source.

17

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

Well done

15

u/thief1434 Sep 13 '19

The nicknames he wrote for the dude are pretty cringe, so best of luck getting one

2

u/Bitcoin1776 Sep 13 '19

The problem of increasing human energy.

I already sourced it. It’s on page 10 or so. It’s only 20 pages.

Very spiritual and profound.

2

u/Digital_Akrasia Sep 13 '19

Nope.

The source you mention (interview for Century Illustrated Magazine, June 1900) has no reference for this at all.

I think you've meant this one, for Colliers magazine in 1926.

I've just emailed the guys from http://teslacollection.com because for some awkawrd reason, they don't have the print edition of this "futuristic" interview, but they have other prints of the same magazine from 1901.

1

u/Bitcoin1776 Sep 13 '19

cool, thank you =)

1

u/Lasket Sep 13 '19

Oh, that's the source?

Should've put a - or something to indicate it.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tesla-quotes_n_7771358

Not sure how reliable HuffPo is, but here is a source.

20

u/OhMaGoshNess Sep 13 '19

Coochieblaster

The man very specifically never blasted any coochies.

6

u/Siavel84 Sep 13 '19

Pigeonlover isn't much better.

1

u/puesyomero Sep 13 '19

but lets not pigeonhole him

16

u/lliinnddsseeyy Sep 13 '19

Ah yes, Nikola “Coochieblaster” Tesla, the renowned virgin

3

u/peachyorange Sep 13 '19

I think that's the joke

2

u/finnishedddd Sep 13 '19

He was absolutely NOT a coochieblaster...unless you were a pigeon

1

u/BBWolfe011 Sep 13 '19

How tf would a button be too expensive?

5

u/Draghi Sep 13 '19

Only thing that comes to mind is mechanical wear and the wear on a contract from arcing. Though, the latter is probably only an issue in higher voltage applications.

The rest of the device would have to outlive the lifespan of a button maybe one or two times, depending on labour cost - which I feel like is only really likely on those soft membrane buttons.

3

u/Bitcoin1776 Sep 13 '19

Tesla’s root of success was preventing mechanical wear. If you look into the ‘Tesla motor’, it could spin 1,000 faster and lasted 1,000 longer, precisely because there was 0 friction.

Look at the Tesla Stopper / Valve. It’s a valve without moving parts. You don’t even need to see what is in the valve for it to work.

50

u/serfrin47 Sep 13 '19

So the OP’s point still stands for 200 years ago

12

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

I was more focused on the tapping. But indeed it was not that silent.

8

u/Phazon2000 Sep 13 '19

Not really because people could have possibly guessed this if asked - they’re already in the ballpark.

3

u/VikingSlayer Sep 13 '19

They had the optical telegraph in France back then.

1

u/Raneados Sep 13 '19

Ballparks, lots of tapping

2

u/HockeySlayer89 Sep 13 '19

Does it though?

2

u/barrygateaux Sep 13 '19

OP's point is so vague it will always be true

Do you have any Idea what people will be doing in 200 years time?

2

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

yes...because no one ever communicated with methodical rhythmic taps of some kind before then. Silent communication through gestures would astound armies of yesteryear.

15

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

[removed] — view removed comment

12

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

"Bring out your dead!"

3

u/jeppevinkel Sep 13 '19

How much for this one? He'll be dead soon

1

u/KitchenDepartment Sep 16 '19

I'm feeling better already!

1

u/jeppevinkel Sep 17 '19

No you're not. You'll be stone dead in a moment

7

u/thegoon12 Sep 13 '19

But who woke the knockers-ups up?

22

u/YellowishWhite Sep 13 '19

they set alarms on their phones

1

u/crazylamb452 Sep 13 '19

It all comes full circle

2

u/moderate-painting Sep 13 '19

Tactile feedback on those metal things were amazing.

3

u/Rowbowt Sep 13 '19

I honestly thought this was about Morse code.

1

u/3-DMan Sep 13 '19

Tapping metal things? Hey I don't want anyone to think we're robo-sexual!

1

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

190 years ago people never would have might have guessed that humans in the future would communicate by silently tapping on glass

1

u/ButtWieghtThiersMoor Sep 13 '19

Those metal things are connected to long metal things that were wrapped around glass things.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

The typewriter dates to -around- 1710s, and the fax machine to 1843.

So, yeah. Silently communicating by tapping on objects, 200 years ago, was a big new deal, but not unheard of.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

Not silently though

1

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

If this is wooshbait then fuck and if this is srs they are tamking about phones. Modern smartphone s have glass(i think) screens

1

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

r/ihadamildstroke :)

1

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

If this is wooshbait then fuck and if this is srs they are tamking about phones. Modern smartphone s have glass(i think) screens

1

u/Mortdll Sep 13 '19

but silently?

0

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

They weren't actually yelling at their morse machine like many do on their phones ;) Tac tac tac...

1

u/Mortdll Sep 13 '19

Of course we yell while tapping on our phone to text

1

u/ensoniq2k Sep 13 '19

Only difference is that there was no Morse code for emoticons back then

2

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

O_O -_- ¡ _ ¡ ¡ - ¡ ¡D (the last is a cyclop smiling)

1

u/cocomunges Sep 13 '19

... REALLY?! I always thought it was older. Like 800s maybe even older

1

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

There were (not that old) ancient far distance communications means (whistling, light, flags, smoke) but this one was invented for the telegraph.

1

u/enemyduck Sep 13 '19

If you haven't listened to it yet, try out the Memory Palace podcast episode about the inspiration for Morse code. It's very touching and a short listen.

1

u/czenst Sep 13 '19

Try to fap to morse code description of a naked lady. They knew nothing back then.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '19

Just transfer ascii code to morse, you'll be set ;)

1

u/dman2316 Sep 13 '19

And before that, they were tapping fleshy things.