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Driverless Cars: Difference between revisions
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#Why did William Branham's "prophecy" of driverless cars bear an uncanny resemblance to the prior predictions in the media? | #Why did William Branham's "prophecy" of driverless cars bear an uncanny resemblance to the prior predictions in the media? | ||
#If the prophecy was written down, why did it change significantly over time? | #If the prophecy was written down, why did it change significantly over time? | ||
=Was this the source of William Branham's 1958 driverless car prophecy?= | =Was this the source of William Branham's 1958 driverless car prophecy?= | ||
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Please watch carefully from 3:11 to 4:37 of the following video and decided for yourself. Was this simply a coincidence or is this another clear example of [[Plagiarism|plagiarism]]? | Please watch carefully from 3:11 to 4:37 of the following video and decided for yourself. Was this simply a coincidence or is this another clear example of [[Plagiarism|plagiarism]]? | ||
[[Image:1958 episode of Disneyland TV series.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The driverless car imagined by Disney in 1958]] | |||
<mediaplayer>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwA7c_rNbJE</mediaplayer> | <mediaplayer>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwA7c_rNbJE</mediaplayer> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
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Why did William Branham first mention the driverless car only after the appearance of the 1956 advertisement in Newsweek (which also appeared in many other newspapers and magazines) and the Disney TV show featuring driverless cars in 1958? If the prophecy really foresaw the future, why weren't the people watching DVD's, sending email on their iphones or playing games on their handheld gaming device? In reality, William Branham appears to have simply copied this "prophecy" from the popular press.[[Image:1958 book on driverless cars.jpg|thumb|right|250px|1958 book on driverless cars]] | Why did William Branham first mention the driverless car only after the appearance of the 1956 advertisement in Newsweek (which also appeared in many other newspapers and magazines) and the Disney TV show featuring driverless cars in 1958? If the prophecy really foresaw the future, why weren't the people watching DVD's, sending email on their iphones or playing games on their handheld gaming device? In reality, William Branham appears to have simply copied this "prophecy" from the popular press.[[Image:1958 book on driverless cars.jpg|thumb|right|250px|1958 book on driverless cars]] | ||
When the Central Power and Light Company ran an advertisement entitled "Power Companies Build For Your New Electric Living,” Branham's telling of this vision now included details of the people sitting inside of the car. His description closely matched the scene from the article, from the rounded glass dome of the vehicle to the family playing a board game in the cab while leaving the steering wheel unattended. | |||
Again, Branham claimed that his vision had been fulfilled. This time, however, it was fulfilled by the driverless car. That same car was on exhibit in the 1962 World's Fair Century 21 Exposition, in Seattle, Washington. Branham toured the exhibits, and described the car as fulfillment of prophecy. | |||
But like the egg-shaped Zephyr, this technology has not become mainstream. Followers of William Branham gather great excitement when they read of any advancement in the automotive industry, hoping that these vehicles will someday become common. Printed in newspapers, it was already common discussion by an excited nation. | |||
"Republished in magazines and newspapers, these designs of Bel Geddes's "prophetic imagination," one historian noted, "struck a responsive chord in a public anxiously looking toward the better environment that was promised by an enlightened technology" | |||
Page 158, Stage Designers in Early Twentieth-Century America | |||
With the progression of science, one can raise many questions surrounding this prophesy describing an egg-shaped car. Why are cars no longer in the shape of the Lincoln Zephyr? Why would God show a vision of a family playing a board game, when modern families are more likely to be entertained by a DVD, Blu-Ray, Xbox 360 or Playstation? Why did Branham claim prophetic insight regarding something that he saw at a World's Fair and in a magazine, as well as newspaper ads? | |||
*1953: Egg shaped automobiles <ref> I said, "Just before that time comes, that automobiles...They'll look like an egg. They'll be shaped. That's a vision. Be something on the shape of something like that." And that's the way they'll be just before the rapture. (March 26, 1953, Jeffersonville, Indiana) </ref> | *1953: Egg shaped automobiles <ref> I said, "Just before that time comes, that automobiles...They'll look like an egg. They'll be shaped. That's a vision. Be something on the shape of something like that." And that's the way they'll be just before the rapture. (March 26, 1953, Jeffersonville, Indiana) </ref> | ||
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==Checkers, anyone?== | ==Checkers, anyone?== | ||
[[Image:Driverless cars low res.jpg|thumb|right|250px|February 22, 1959 edition of Arthur Radebaugh's Sunday comic strip "Closer Than We Think"]] | |||
If this was a legitimate prophecy, why were they playing checkers in a driverless car? Shouldn't they have been playing a game on a colored screen? Angry Birds, perhaps? | If this was a legitimate prophecy, why were they playing checkers in a driverless car? Shouldn't they have been playing a game on a colored screen? Angry Birds, perhaps? | ||
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=Driverless vehicles in the media= | =Driverless vehicles in the media= | ||
With driver assist technologies being integrated into vehicles today, the promise of a fully autonomous individual vehicle on all or designated roadways is possible. The main problem is responsibility for liability. | With driver assist technologies being integrated into vehicles today, the promise of a fully autonomous individual vehicle on all or designated roadways is possible. The main problem is responsibility for liability. | ||
[[Image:Driverless car from early 60s.jpg|thumb|right|250px]] | |||
Driverless technology for automobiles has been a technological dream since cars were first invented (see drawing from 1918). | Driverless technology for automobiles has been a technological dream since cars were first invented (see drawing from 1918). | ||
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In the 1950's, autonomous cars represented the modern life of luxury that was just around the corner and were seen in popular media throughout the 50's and 60's. Disney also imagined a world of self-driving cars, with a heavy emphasis on leisure. The May 14, 1958 episode of the Disneyland TV series titled "Magic Highway USA" examined the future of transportation, including the future of driverless vehicles, complete with a game of checkers. | In the 1950's, autonomous cars represented the modern life of luxury that was just around the corner and were seen in popular media throughout the 50's and 60's. Disney also imagined a world of self-driving cars, with a heavy emphasis on leisure. The May 14, 1958 episode of the Disneyland TV series titled "Magic Highway USA" examined the future of transportation, including the future of driverless vehicles, complete with a game of checkers. | ||
Bill and Sue Severn published a book which detailed their vision of driverless car technology entitled "Highways to Tomorrow" in 1958. | Bill and Sue Severn published a book which detailed their vision of driverless car technology entitled "Highways to Tomorrow" in 1958.[[File:1200px-NISSAN cube Z12 rear.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Nissan Cube]] | ||
=Egg Shaped Cars= | =Egg Shaped Cars= | ||
The egg-shape design always seems sensational, but from its introduction in 1942 has never made its way into mass-production. The design is not aerodynamic (an egg is designed to exit a chicken's body, not to be thrown), has the potential to crack in the wrong places during a collusion, an does not support fast acceleration. | The egg-shape design always seems sensational, but from its introduction in 1942 has never made its way into mass-production. The design is not aerodynamic (an egg is designed to exit a chicken's body, not to be thrown), has the potential to crack in the wrong places during a collusion, an does not support fast acceleration. | ||