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October 21st • Pop Culture & Future

Back to the Future Day

On October 21st, 2015, Marty McFly arrived in the future in the classic 1989 movie back to the future part II. Since then, fans celebrate this date annually. Today, we look at the accuracy of past technological predictions, the paradoxes of time travel, and what our future might look like in another 30 years. If you could travel to any point in history, where would you go, and would you change anything?

A glowing portal representing time travel

Speaking Discussion

  • Which technological predictions from the back to the future movies (like hoverboards or flying cars) do you wish were real today?
  • If you had a time machine, would you rather travel 100 years into the past or 100 years into the future? Why?
  • Do you think it's possible for a person to change history without causing a paradox (a logical contradiction)?
  • What is one thing about our modern world today that people from 1985 would find absolutely unbelievable?
  • Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of humanity? What do you think our world will look like in 2055?
  • If you could meet your younger self and give them one piece of advice, what would it be?

Activity 1: The time capsule Project

The Task: You are the Chief Archivist. You need to choose 3 items from today to put in a time capsule for people in the year 2126.

What are the items, and what do they represent about our culture?

Activity 2: Rapid Fire Sentences

Complete the sentence and justify it in 20 seconds.

  • "The most important invention in history is..."
  • "I think the future will be..."
  • "In my opinion, time travel is..."