What do you think the world will be like around the year 2050? What will technology, politics, society be like and how will it be different from today or the year 2000?
What will the world be like in 2050?
- Thread starter Randoman01
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I'm no techy or anything, so this is all just guess work.
I imagine that many of the more common problems, such as disease, world hunger, and poverty will either be completely solved or nearly eradicated. We'll probably have a decent sized moon base and allow people to live there. Transhumanism will become more common and humans as a species will become more "Perfect"
Anyway, that's my uneducated guess.
I imagine that many of the more common problems, such as disease, world hunger, and poverty will either be completely solved or nearly eradicated. We'll probably have a decent sized moon base and allow people to live there. Transhumanism will become more common and humans as a species will become more "Perfect"
Anyway, that's my uneducated guess.
Thank you for your interest in my plans. Unfortunately I cannot reveal very much at this juncture, but please rest assured that you will not have to share your SlaveCubes with more than four residents per unit. Your gruel will contain all the nutrients you need, and the RoboGuards' electrowhips will always be set to Degree IV, unless, of course, you attempt to fight back.
Well, the population is projected to peak around there or within the two decades before it, so less land will need to be dedicated to agriculture from that point on (coupled with a likely increase in croup yields due to better agriculture technology).
For tech, I honestly can't say. If someone in 2000 predicted the smartphone or tablet revolution, no one would believe them, nor the 3D movies of today in 2005.
For politics, this is a combination of my optimism and pessimism, but I'd expect the EU to be more federated then it is and may even be at the point where it is an actual state and not alliance. China on the other hand will probably be in a state of "seen better days" given how their economy is set up at the moment. Not much to look forward there if they don't do some radical changes in the next decade. Russia will probably the same. I mean that literally, the industry and tech level will probably not advance that much given their economic and population problems. Japan would probably have a much lower population, but still have a relatively strong economy. Can't really guess for much else.
For society, that's an impossibility. 36 years is just to large of a gap to make a prediction.
For tech, I honestly can't say. If someone in 2000 predicted the smartphone or tablet revolution, no one would believe them, nor the 3D movies of today in 2005.
For politics, this is a combination of my optimism and pessimism, but I'd expect the EU to be more federated then it is and may even be at the point where it is an actual state and not alliance. China on the other hand will probably be in a state of "seen better days" given how their economy is set up at the moment. Not much to look forward there if they don't do some radical changes in the next decade. Russia will probably the same. I mean that literally, the industry and tech level will probably not advance that much given their economic and population problems. Japan would probably have a much lower population, but still have a relatively strong economy. Can't really guess for much else.
For society, that's an impossibility. 36 years is just to large of a gap to make a prediction.
Transhuman technology would likely have experienced an enormous surge in applications and a steadier increase in acceptance. I think humanity will have begun construction of its the first space station bearing a resemblance to an O'Neill cylinder [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O%27Neill_cylinder], although I don't know whether it will be used mainly for housing or agriculture. Sharp-minded people have no doubt already planned for such eventualities.
In short? A lot more fucked up than it is already. [user]Elfgore[/user] is being very optimistic IMO.
Disease will be rampant, we are being very stupid with antibiotics and have been for ages now. Doctors are handing them out like candy with no regard to the consequences. Things like MRSA and super TB will seem like happy memories once antibiotics are no longer effective. Surgery will become incredibly dangerous because of the risk of post op infections. Meany will die of sicknesses that were once thought to be things of the past.
Energy will be in high demand as we struggle to extract enough oil and gas to meat the demands of the population, economies will struggle and fail as the cost of living rises to new highs. This will cause lots of civil unrest.
The effects of climate change will really begin to bite as changing weather patterns redistribute rainfall, rising seas will see coast lines changing. Hurricanes and storms will become more common, along with droughts. This will have a detrimental effect on agriculture. Lower crop yield will lead to starvation for meany.
Advancing technology will create a divide among the population between those that can afford it and those that can not, the rich/poor divide will widen further.
Clean water will be what the next wars are fought over, that and space. Overpopulation will be a real problem.
Disease will be rampant, we are being very stupid with antibiotics and have been for ages now. Doctors are handing them out like candy with no regard to the consequences. Things like MRSA and super TB will seem like happy memories once antibiotics are no longer effective. Surgery will become incredibly dangerous because of the risk of post op infections. Meany will die of sicknesses that were once thought to be things of the past.
Energy will be in high demand as we struggle to extract enough oil and gas to meat the demands of the population, economies will struggle and fail as the cost of living rises to new highs. This will cause lots of civil unrest.
The effects of climate change will really begin to bite as changing weather patterns redistribute rainfall, rising seas will see coast lines changing. Hurricanes and storms will become more common, along with droughts. This will have a detrimental effect on agriculture. Lower crop yield will lead to starvation for meany.
Advancing technology will create a divide among the population between those that can afford it and those that can not, the rich/poor divide will widen further.
Clean water will be what the next wars are fought over, that and space. Overpopulation will be a real problem.
A friend of a friend ended up living in Fiji for around 10 years after he finished university in 2003. When he came back recently he asked our mutual friend what was new in the UK and he said "pubs are worse, tellys are bigger".
Seems a pretty good bet for 2050.
Seems a pretty good bet for 2050.
Buildings will be the same, tech will be more futuristic in one way or another and there won't be any future car or robot servants.
I'll be 59-60 in 2050, assuming I live that long. It's actually kind of a daunting thought to know that I will be alive at what seems like such a long way away.
Other than what my imagination can come up with, I'm willing to bet one word to describe this future will be "convenience." I see a world where, from a technological standpoint, more and more devices are capable of doing multiple things not normally done by said objects today. I can't speak for politics, economics, or even the physical health of the Earth at that time, but I am very much looking forward to where technology takes us as a species.
It really makes you think, huh?
Other than what my imagination can come up with, I'm willing to bet one word to describe this future will be "convenience." I see a world where, from a technological standpoint, more and more devices are capable of doing multiple things not normally done by said objects today. I can't speak for politics, economics, or even the physical health of the Earth at that time, but I am very much looking forward to where technology takes us as a species.
It really makes you think, huh?
I'm going to say it'd be much the same as it is now in many ways. You'll have lots of pointless small wars and disasters, but most of the world will cheerfully ignore them. We'll still have unemployment and prejudice and inequality, but we'll muddle along.
How technology will change society, though, would be impossible to say. Facebook and youtube have been here for about a decade, and I can't remember what things were like before them.
How technology will change society, though, would be impossible to say. Facebook and youtube have been here for about a decade, and I can't remember what things were like before them.
Either we'll reach the technological singularity and unlock the secrets of immortality or we'll all be dead. Either way I look forward to it.
I'm not sure any predictions of what the future will be like are terribly valid. I mean, look at 2001: A Space Odyssey. Thirteen years AFTER we were supposed to be at that level, and we're nowhere close. People, I feel, are chronically over-optimistic when it comes to the future and the rate that tech will develop at. The future we were promised in the fifties didn't come to pass, nor the future of the sixties, seventies, eighties. The future people are pushing now will be just as distant and long-coming - if not completely impossible - as all the others were.
Really, people are just bad with trends. They see something going up or down and assume it'll keep on that track forever. Then it doesn't and everyone freaks out like it's unexpected. So, barring some sort of disaster that comes out of the blue, I've got to throw my lot in with all the "Probably not that different" guys, if only because it's impossible to foresee what, if any, major breakthroughs or events will happen in the next forty or so years.
Really, people are just bad with trends. They see something going up or down and assume it'll keep on that track forever. Then it doesn't and everyone freaks out like it's unexpected. So, barring some sort of disaster that comes out of the blue, I've got to throw my lot in with all the "Probably not that different" guys, if only because it's impossible to foresee what, if any, major breakthroughs or events will happen in the next forty or so years.
A big smoldering crater after an asteroid makes impact and kills us all in around about 2036, either that but something like Idiocracy, but 5x the human population in that film. I don't have high hopes, this is as good as it's gonna get.
But if Did You Know Gaming has their facts right, Nintendo will still be around. Small comfort for us Sony fanboys but still.
But if Did You Know Gaming has their facts right, Nintendo will still be around. Small comfort for us Sony fanboys but still.
There's going to be some sort of major shift in population, either by controls being put into application, or the inevitable catastrophic effect when some super-disease/lack of food/lack of water comes into full effect. A decent wager on some sort of dissension breaking up one or more of the first world nations into pieces, whether thats by violent uprising over class division, simple struggles for resources, or the glaring fact that current "representative government" systems are failing to do anything of the sort (In Example: Winning the presidency by 51% in the US would still leave you as the guy that 150 million people and change didn't vote for, and in a 2 party system, technically, voted against)
Who can say? No-one can really predict the breakthroughs that will shape the progress of our society in 5 years, never mind close to 40.
I hope the singularity happens in my lifetime, and not so far into my life I don't get to see what happens as result so sometime before 2050 would be about the latest it could happen and allow me to see the effects (and that's probably an optimistic estimate).
I'll just be incredibly bleak, because I feel like it.
Earth 2050 will be a pretty shitty place to be. The gap between rich and poor will only continue to grow in all likelihood, and any advent of transhumanism as a mainstream 'movement' will only make this sharper. Now the richest will not only have the social and monetary advantage, but also a marked physical and mental one. Their status will be even more untouchable than monarchs in 16th century Europe.
This will also apply to any interplanetary colonisation that might take place. Places on those flights will be in HUGE demand, only those with the cash to buy their spot will make it off our dying world. The exception will be the great people of that time. Miley Cyrus will almost certainly make it, assuming the machines haven't already got her.
As the exodus takes place, nations will be more and more desperate for ever-dwindling resources. Wars on a scale that dwarf WW2 will break out, with weapons so destructive they make the arms of today look like slingshots.
2050 will be a dangerous place to be. Ever heard "Down in the Park" by Gary Numan? That'll be our reality. Don't go outside until sunrise. Not that you can actually see the sun through the toxic atmosphere. Just don't go outside.
In all honesty, if I was actually to seriously speculate, I'd say things will most likely get worse. Not societal collapse bad, but worse. Resources will be scarcer than they are now (especially water), energy will be super expensive (a child born in 2050 will be lucky to make an international flight, or be able to afford to own and operate a car).
I hope the singularity happens in my lifetime, and not so far into my life I don't get to see what happens as result so sometime before 2050 would be about the latest it could happen and allow me to see the effects (and that's probably an optimistic estimate).
I'll just be incredibly bleak, because I feel like it.
Earth 2050 will be a pretty shitty place to be. The gap between rich and poor will only continue to grow in all likelihood, and any advent of transhumanism as a mainstream 'movement' will only make this sharper. Now the richest will not only have the social and monetary advantage, but also a marked physical and mental one. Their status will be even more untouchable than monarchs in 16th century Europe.
This will also apply to any interplanetary colonisation that might take place. Places on those flights will be in HUGE demand, only those with the cash to buy their spot will make it off our dying world. The exception will be the great people of that time. Miley Cyrus will almost certainly make it, assuming the machines haven't already got her.
As the exodus takes place, nations will be more and more desperate for ever-dwindling resources. Wars on a scale that dwarf WW2 will break out, with weapons so destructive they make the arms of today look like slingshots.
2050 will be a dangerous place to be. Ever heard "Down in the Park" by Gary Numan? That'll be our reality. Don't go outside until sunrise. Not that you can actually see the sun through the toxic atmosphere. Just don't go outside.
In all honesty, if I was actually to seriously speculate, I'd say things will most likely get worse. Not societal collapse bad, but worse. Resources will be scarcer than they are now (especially water), energy will be super expensive (a child born in 2050 will be lucky to make an international flight, or be able to afford to own and operate a car).
Oh boy. Ask an easy one, why don't you.
What the world will be like will depend on a LOT of things and how certain technologies develop, how the first world deals with the devaluation of labor, how we deal with petrochemical shortages, and how we deal with climate change (and its exact effects).
What the world will be like will depend on a LOT of things and how certain technologies develop, how the first world deals with the devaluation of labor, how we deal with petrochemical shortages, and how we deal with climate change (and its exact effects).
The 20th century saw more technological progress than all preceding recorded human history. People like to talk about the coming war/famine/disease that will wipe us out or the technological singularity that will grant us the power of the gods but the fact is that we don't know. Tomorrow we may as well hit a roof in our progress.
The Greek were once the center of technological progress. During their height, they were playing around with primitive steam engines. Industrial revolution could have happened 2000 years earlier, if someone had figured out the potential behind that type of technology.
However, this third option is probably unlikely. The trick behind our current speedy development is the flow of information. Someone in Alaska has an idea and can be discussing its principals to colleagues in Germany and China, at the same time. Computers can run enormous simulations to determine if said idea has any merits, before embarking on a potential wild goose chase. This is the age of the internet. It is an untrod territory that changes every day.
Edit:
I can throw out some hypothetical ideas. The first papers leading to the theory of relativity were published in 1905. The Manhattan project began in the early 40's, leading to the detonation of the first atomic bomb, in 1945. This is how long it took to go from a working theory to unleashing one of the most destructive force known to man.
In 1994 Alcubierre proposed an idea of bending spacetime, in order to travel faster than light. Initial calculations required more energy than what is produced by the sun. Refined calculations suggest that we might "only" need what amounts to the annual energy production of USA. NASA is currently studying these calculations. Who knows what will happen before 2050.
The Greek were once the center of technological progress. During their height, they were playing around with primitive steam engines. Industrial revolution could have happened 2000 years earlier, if someone had figured out the potential behind that type of technology.
However, this third option is probably unlikely. The trick behind our current speedy development is the flow of information. Someone in Alaska has an idea and can be discussing its principals to colleagues in Germany and China, at the same time. Computers can run enormous simulations to determine if said idea has any merits, before embarking on a potential wild goose chase. This is the age of the internet. It is an untrod territory that changes every day.
Edit:
I can throw out some hypothetical ideas. The first papers leading to the theory of relativity were published in 1905. The Manhattan project began in the early 40's, leading to the detonation of the first atomic bomb, in 1945. This is how long it took to go from a working theory to unleashing one of the most destructive force known to man.
In 1994 Alcubierre proposed an idea of bending spacetime, in order to travel faster than light. Initial calculations required more energy than what is produced by the sun. Refined calculations suggest that we might "only" need what amounts to the annual energy production of USA. NASA is currently studying these calculations. Who knows what will happen before 2050.
It'll be just like now, but with a few new gadgets here and there. People in general will be more open-minded, for better and for worse.
Life has both gotten easier, yet harder and more complex. Because any time saved by any form of innovation will have been put towards what will be considered the standard amount of work everyone is expected to do. Life expectancy will probably go up to justify this.
I try to be a optimistic and cheerful person irl, but to be honest I wouldn't mind some kind of apocalypse to happen. I'd probably be a lot less stressed about what happens the next day. An asteroid or something would probably be best, so we don't squabble over whose fault it is before it hits. I can take screaming, it's understandable, but not squabbling.
Life has both gotten easier, yet harder and more complex. Because any time saved by any form of innovation will have been put towards what will be considered the standard amount of work everyone is expected to do. Life expectancy will probably go up to justify this.
I try to be a optimistic and cheerful person irl, but to be honest I wouldn't mind some kind of apocalypse to happen. I'd probably be a lot less stressed about what happens the next day. An asteroid or something would probably be best, so we don't squabble over whose fault it is before it hits. I can take screaming, it's understandable, but not squabbling.
It will be like Huxley predicted in Brave New World. Mass consumerism, population either spiraling out of control or heavily regulated and everything will be so willingly available that nothing will have meaning. Distribution of income will reach further inequalities and new tech developed will be exclusive to the wealthy few that can afford it.
Hate to say it, but tl;dr I think the world will go to shit =(.
Hate to say it, but tl;dr I think the world will go to shit =(.