Why 2k: or, The Millennial Prometheus
*Actual theory from a certifiably insane person*
I was born in August 1993. I am currently 11 days away from being 23 years old, which is five years older than Google. (Founded September 1998.) The only “goo” I understood from the time I was born until I was five years old was “goo-goo-ga-ga,” the phrase most often spoken to the youngest among us. Does that phrase mean anything to you? Why is it one of the most prolific sentences in our language if it means absolutely nothing? Is that why Goo-gle was founded? We couldn’t ever find what we were searching so hard to find so we compiled everyone elses best attempts in effort to find our best match?
It gets better though, because thanks to the wonderful connections provided through the world-wide-web and our terminals being connected to the vast emptiness of space 24/7 someone way smarter than me decided to freak out and wanted to warn everyone (just in case) about their theory of “Y2K,” the horrific global apocalypse that was sure to occur on January 1, 2000 because computers “didn’t understand 0”.
However, at the stroke of midnight, January 1, 2000, nothing happened. Why? Computers were (shockingly) smarter than we were. Seeing as I lived through this crisis, (survived and thrived for your information) I think I know why that smart person was wrong and why I think that I’m right.
This theory takes a bit more context to understand so I have to go back a bit further than Y2K, even further than my own birthday in 1993. For this theory we need to look at the story of Frankenstein.
Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus was written by Mary Shelley in 1818. This isn’t intended to be a book report, but the story and context are essential, because if you can understand the motivation behind the creation of “Frankenstein’s Monster” then you can understand why “Y2K” has been in some ways worse than we could have even predicted.
Mary Shelley was born in August 1797, as the daughter of two brilliantly celebrated English writers and philosophers, William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft. In 1816, she ended up marrying another great English writer, Percy Shelley. They had three beautiful children and lived happily ever after. Beautiful true story, except for the fact that unfortunately, they didn’t. Mary and Percy’s relationship was…forbidden. Percy was already married in 1814 when he met Mary through her father’s book club and she ended up pregnant within a year (oops). Percy and Mary ended up losing the baby as she was born prematurely, and they struggled constantly to make ends meet. Essentially a disgustingly atrocious two-year period.
Fortunately, things brightened up in the summer of 1816 though, when the pair took a vacation to the Swiss countryside (where I assume the tree bark is actually made of chocolate) and Mary Shelley conceived the idea for one of the most grotesque monsters to ever exist. Frankenstein’s monster. Right? You knew that? Frankenstein isn’t the monster. Frankenstein is the scientist. Were you actually paying attention in your high school English class or were you too busy checking out Jessica’s new haircut? Well I was too I guess but I also read the Spark Notes.
NatGeo profiling Y2K fears: https://youtu.be/ddzbxJasID4
Another Y2K Doc: https://youtu.be/mhsRP6onspc
