What are/will be the defining characteristics of the 20th Century in Retrospect?

[Barrister]

I'd say that the defining characteristics of the 20th Century in retrospect will be the growth of mass communications and pop culture.  There were elements of the former going back at least to the telegraph, and of the latter arguably going back even further, but they both really developed hugely in the 20th Century.  (I'd say that mass communications was the more important of the two, and in fact pop culture as we know it probably couldn't exist without it.)

The 19th certainly had "pop culture".  From newspaper serials to popular music distributed by sheet music, there was a widespread popular culture.

[Faeelin]

My perception of the 19th century was more one of expansion, exploration, advancement.  It was the era of the frontier, the gold rush, the colonial expansion, wiping white spaces off the map.

My suspicion is that Indians, Chinese, etc. would not agree with you.  Assuming the BRIC end up converging to or close to first world standards of living, the 20th century will probably be about a return to a "normal" global economy, and not one dominated by Northern Europe.

[Eddie Teach]

The desire to change the world and the belief that one could.

[MadImmortalMan]

The desire to change the world and the belief that one could.

And killing millions in the attempt.

[mongers]

Astonishing progress in scientific understanding and conversely massive active rejection of that which contradicts the individual's and society's prejudices.

[crazy canuck]

Astonishing progress in scientific understanding and conversely massive active rejection of that which contradicts the individual's and society's prejudices.

What do you mean by "the individual's" prejudices and how are they adopted on a massive scale?

[Razgovory]

I imagine that 20th century will be remembered as the Age Ideology, where nations devoted themselves entirely to one strange ideal or another.  Typically with catastrophic results.

[crazy canuck]

I imagine that 20th century will be remembered as the Age Ideology, where nations devoted themselves entirely to one strange ideal or another.  Typically with catastrophic results.

How is that different from other ages?

[Razgovory]

I imagine that 20th century will be remembered as the Age Ideology, where nations devoted themselves entirely to one strange ideal or another.  Typically with catastrophic results.

How is that different from other ages?

There wasn't a great deal of ideological states in the 10th century.

[mongers]

Astonishing progress in scientific understanding and conversely massive active rejection of that which contradicts the individual's and society's prejudices.

What do you mean by "the individual's" prejudices and how are they adopted on a massive scale?

Late 20th/ early 21st century economics allow more than a few individuals to live in massively delusional lifestyles, whereby much of what they 'randomly' decide is correct and reject out of hand the science as plain wrong.

For instance, every 3rd or 4th parent thinks of themselves an expert on immunology and the scientists involved aren't just wrong, but are actively conspiring against them/society/only doing it for big business etc.
Look at the new orthodoxies  in many areas of modern life ie organic food/farming is always best, and yet paradoxically if instituted worldwide, would really lead to half the world starving and dying.

In extreme cases, I can think of people who reject almost all sciences as corrupt and yet never reject any of its fruits.

[crazy canuck]

I imagine that 20th century will be remembered as the Age Ideology, where nations devoted themselves entirely to one strange ideal or another.  Typically with catastrophic results.

How is that different from other ages?

There wasn't a great deal of ideological states in the 10th century.

Thats because there were no "states" in the 10th century 

[Valmy]

I imagine that 20th century will be remembered as the Age Ideology, where nations devoted themselves entirely to one strange ideal or another.  Typically with catastrophic results.

I seriously doubt that.  People will remember the 20th century depending on how it impacts their current world.  Those catastrophic results are not impacting them so they will probably not think of that.  Similar with the failed ideologies of the 20th century.  The advances of information technology and the like on the other hand will be remembered because they will still be around impacting human life.

[Viking]

That got me thinking about common perceptions of the 19th Century.  The image is one of repression-of political, sexual, social and cultural movements stifled by decaying social mores and authoritarian co-opting of nationalist sentiment. 

That feels like a very European perspective on the 19th century.

My perception of the 19th century was more one of expansion, exploration, advancement.  It was the era of the frontier, the gold rush, the colonial expansion, wiping white spaces off the map.

when the non-european world defined itself as "the third world" it wasn't saying what it was, it was attempting to claim that it wasn't one of the two european ones. I think the history will be more eurocentric in our history books than the 3rd bc was mid-east centric. It is the point of time in history where one little part of the world dominated the rest more totally than at any other time since.

[Viking]

I imagine that 20th century will be remembered as the Age Ideology, where nations devoted themselves entirely to one strange ideal or another.  Typically with catastrophic results.

I seriously doubt that.  People will remember the 20th century depending on how it impacts their current world.  Those catastrophic results are not impacting them so they will probably not think of that.  Similar with the failed ideologies of the 20th century.  The advances of information technology and the like on the other hand will be remembered because they will still be around impacting human life.

Well, it will be just as much an age of ideology as the Industrial Revolution was an age of Industry, the Enlightenment was an age of science and the Reformation was an age of religion. Ideology is the object, cause and mediating influence on all events of the 20th century in addition to involving itself in all aspects of it regardless.

[Malthus]

People will remember the 20th century as the age of simultaeneous progress and terrible human disasters. The great totalitarian regimes and the world wars will stand out; people will no more forget Hitler, Stalin and Mao than they have forgotten Ghengis Khan.