7 Normal Things You Do That Will Horrify Your Grandkids

Highlights

• More than 39,000 people die in vehicle crashes every year in the United States.

• Waymo autonomous vehicles have logged over 220 million miles without drivers while showing 94% fewer severe or fatal injury crashes.

• Human beings kill and eat about 85 billion land animals every year.

• The American Psychological Association estimates that one in every three eyewitnesses makes an incorrect identification.

• Mistaken eyewitnesses appear in roughly seven out of 10 DNA exonerations.

Timeline

1. 00:00 - 01:17

   Introduction to Historical Blind Spots

   Historical practices highlight how routine behaviors eventually become obsolete or shocking. Doctors in Vienna ridiculed the suggestion to wash hands between autopsies and maternity wards, mirroring how current societal norms will be viewed in the future. Examining the present through the eyes of someone living in 2126 exposes seven completely normal habits that might look insane a century from now.

   • Normal daily actions often appear horrifying to future generations.
   • Medical professionals in 1847 performed autopsies and delivered babies without washing their hands.
   • Future generations will look back at current practices and question past logic.
2. 01:17 - 03:24

   Driving Manual Cars

   Humans routinely operate two-ton metal machines separated only by painted lines using distracted brains. Worldwide, vehicle fatalities reach approximately 1.2 million deaths per year. Autonomous alternatives like Waymo reduce crashes causing serious or fatal injuries by 94% compared to human drivers in the same cities. Similar to how horses and manure vanished from city streets within 20 years of the automobile's arrival, manual driving may soon appear bizarrely primitive.

   • Vehicle crashes cause more than 39,000 deaths annually in the United States.
   • Driving serves as the leading cause of death for individuals aged 5 to 29.
   • Autonomous vehicles log millions of miles with drastically lower serious injury rates than human drivers.
3. 03:24 - 04:59

   Consuming Animal Products

   Dietary habits involving meat consumption contradict the growing scientific understanding of animal sentience and emotion. Reformer Henry Salt predicted in the 1880s that future generations would view meat consumption as a relic of ignorance and barbarism. Cultivated meat, which cost $330,000 for a single burger in 2013, has gained regulatory approval in Singapore and the United States while dropping significantly in cost.

   • Humanity slaughters and consumes roughly 85 billion land animals each year.
   • Animals possess sentience, form relationships, and experience pain and fear.
   • Lab-grown and cultivated meat technologies remove the necessity of killing living beings.
4. 04:59 - 06:23

   Invasive Surgical Procedures

   While surgery remains a monumental achievement of modern medicine, manual incisions resemble historical practices like leeches and bloodletting. Medical trajectories point toward regenerated tissue, genetic corrections before symptoms appear, and non-invasive molecular interventions. Descendants will likely view surgical incisions not as barbaric, but as unnecessarily aggressive.

   • Medical treatment often requires cutting open human bodies with large knives.
   • Surgical methods have evolved from amputations without anesthesia to laparoscopic and robotic procedures.
   • Future medical treatments may target diseases at the molecular level without breaking the skin.
5. 06:23 - 08:46

   Reproduction by Chance

   Reproduction has traditionally depended on random sperm-egg pairings and unpredicted genetic inheritance. Mainstream medical advancements like IVF and egg freezing have transformed family planning. Prospective parents now utilize embryo screenings to prevent serious genetic diseases, pointing toward a future where reproduction involves calculated preferences rather than genetic dice rolls.

   • Human reproduction has historically relied on biological chance regarding genetic traits and conception.
   • Over 13 million humans have been born via IVF since 1978.
   • Modern reproductive technology increasingly disentangles reproduction from sex through screening and selection.
6. 08:46 - 10:56

   Jury Trials and Eyewitness Testimony

   Historical justice systems relied on trial by ordeal or combat, which modern society views as absurd. Present-day reliance on 12 untrained jurors weighing subjective evidence mirrors that historical shift. Human memory functions imperfectly under stress, yet confident eyewitness testimony remains heavily persuasive in courtrooms despite high error rates.

   • Legal guilt is determined by random collections of untrained citizens serving on juries.
   • The American Psychological Association estimates one in three eyewitnesses makes incorrect identifications.
   • Mistaken eyewitness accounts appear in approximately seven out of 10 DNA exonerations.
7. 10:56 - 12:17

   Deploying Humans in Warfare

   Battles have historically required young soldiers to run directly into enemy fire. Technological progress shifts combat toward distance-based and automated systems. Descendants will look back at physical soldier deployment with disbelief regarding the deliberate placement of human lives in harm's way.

   • Human conflict remains a persistent feature of civilization across millennia.
   • Modern warfare increasingly utilizes drones, cyber attacks, and autonomous systems.
   • Future generations will likely find the deployment of young human bodies into active battlefields astonishing.
8. 12:17 - 15:08

   Inheriting Assigned Names

   Names serve as fundamental personal identifiers, yet parents assign them before children can object. Drawing an analogy to arranged marriages, personal autonomy may eventually extend to self-selected naming conventions. Invisible societal norms govern daily life, making it difficult to recognize ordinary practices that future generations will question.

   • Individuals possess zero input regarding their assigned first, middle, and last names.
   • Choosing one's spouse became a social norm only recently compared to historical arranged marriages.
   • Future identity conventions may allow individuals to select permanent names at maturity or change them freely.