NationStates Jolt Archive

What do you see happening in the world in the next 50 years? Do you see any major political changes? Maybe the rise of a new form of music? What do you forsee?

What do I look like, Criswell?

More of the same.

Also, President Mitt Romney and the end of constitutional law in the United States.

Uncontrollable global warming, Regional wars, and maybe a meteor.

ohh I'm looking forward to being able to extend my life by saaaay 2000 years.

Everything will stay the same, only more so.

A boot stamping on a human face, forever.

A boot stamping on a human face, forever.

Hahaha :)

It's funny 'cos it's true.

i see China and India rising in economic and political power. i see the USA becoming increasingly confrontational towards them. i see climate change causing untold problems around the world. i see a world decline in non-secular governments (well, that's a wish anyway ;)). i see the only way for britain and other european countries to maintain their world standing and standards of living being to unify closer, politically and economically. i see food prices rising. i see loads of cool technology and gadgets! :D

What do you see happening in the world in the next 50 years? Do you see any major political changes? Maybe the rise of a new form of music? What do you forsee?

I predict that the moon will go through several full cycles, the earth will revolve around the sun about fifty times, and a lot of people will die.

I see all of us dying someday. :cool:

I see all of us dying someday. :cool:

Every man lives, but not every man truly dies!

there will be a bunch of old people on a politics forum reminiscing about the good old days :)

oh and there will be a troll called GloryAndFreedomForAmerica abbreviated as Gaffa

I see genetic engineering curing the worst ilnesses and providing food for the Africa. I see even greater population crisis. I see devastated Earth, I see resources depleted, I see the rich countries shuddering in fear behind the new iron curtain. I see terrorist attacks on unprecedented scale using bioweapons and dirty bombs. I see the human civilization on the brink of collapse. I see great loss of life and finally curbing the population growth by forcing the birth control on all countries.

I see genetic engineering curing the worst ilnesses and providing food for the Africa. I see even greater population crisis. I see devastated Earth, I see resources depleted, I see the rich countries shuddering in fear behind the new iron curtain. I see terrorist attacks on unprecedented scale using bioweapons and dirty bombs. I see the human civilization on the brink of collapse. I see great loss of life and finally curbing the population growth by forcing the birth control on all countries.

I see a crappy novel.

I wish this scenario remained on the pages of crappy novels. But this is simple extrapolation of the current trends. About the only thing I can see preventing the overpopulation crisis is miracle - the miracle of the people realizing they don't need to breed like rabbits. I don't see this happening.

About the only thing I can see preventing the overpopulation crisis is miracle - the miracle of the people realizing they don't need to breed like rabbits. I don't see this happening.

Nah, a nuclear war or decent-sized asteroid impact could work wonders :)

*Gazes into crystal ball* I strongly believe that in the future there will be deaths, taxes, incompetent political leadership, and arguments about religion on NSG *nods*

Y'know, you don't have to put '*nods*' at the end of every fucking post.

Also, I see things going onmuch the same until we blow ourselves up.

War, famine, apathy.

Pretty much the same as the last 50 years.

War, famine, apathy.

Pretty much the same as the last 50 years.

Ah Apathy the fifth horseman of the Apocalypse who frankly just couldn't be arsed...


*nods*

More of the same. We make our lives better with new technologies and at the same time come up with new and better ways to kill each other.

I see this thread reaching page 3 :D

I see the West collapsing and being replaced by an ultra-aggressive Asian and Middle Eastern element.

Me, with a beard.

I see dead people.

What do you see happening in the world in the next 50 years?

Bad news: due to the fact that the speed of light is finite, we can only see the past. Not even the present. And, of course, no future!;)

I see this:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Auto_Racing_Black.svg/800px-Auto_Racing_Black.svg.png

I'm actually a bit more optimistic for the future than my contemporaries (seriously, the way some of these guys talk, its like they look forward to the end of the world).

I see a rise in environmentalism leading to energy efficient and environmentally friendly technologies that will greatly reduce human damage to the natural world, and I see oil replaced as an energy source.

I see computer technology continuing to expand and advance exponentially, eventually leading to cell phones that hold as much information as today's supercomputers. In addition, I see nanotechnology rising, leading to an ever miniaturized world, and a boon to the medical industry. Lastly, I see real, stable, artificial concsiousness.

Politically...I see much of the same, but I'm hoping this current, youngest generation will learn from the clusterfuck of the early 21st century and make the world a better place.

I see this thread reaching page 3 :D

Fail




Doh

Massive, accelerating technological progress and significant improvements in our energy and environmental situation. In particular, strong AI, nanomedicine and nanotechnology, citizen robots with human rights, alternative energy supplying most or all of our needs, massive and continuous human life quality of life expansion, and lastly a cultural shift towards focus on creativity and innovation rather than just raw knowledge or technical skill will all be the biggest changes we will see. The end of that period will see the beginning of human voyages to off-world colonies and the use of space for our resource needs.

I could go further in to detail but I don't think that's necessary. ;)

Fail




Doh

What, your post was still on page 2 ;)

Why ask us when you can just watch Conan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUwDdc52udI)?

The end of that period will see the beginning of human voyages to off-world colonies and the use of space for our resource needs.

I could go further in to detail but I don't think that's necessary. ;)

Honestly i dont think with the current fairly useless space programs (ISS anyone?) that space will become a viable thought for resources for at least 1000 years...

Honestly i dont think with the current fairly useless space programs (ISS anyone?) that space will become a viable thought for resources for at least 1000 years...

I don't know, private space tourism is really taking off even if it is expensive, and once the private sector gets involved it will really start to move forward. Currently, the main barrier is the cost of launching things more than anything else; if you can bring that down space will become much more economical and will really start to take off.

So, who knows? We're still pretty far from needing to expand in to space at this point, so there is a lot of time to develop the technology.

Massive, accelerating technological progress and significant improvements in our energy and environmental situation. In particular, strong AI, nanomedicine and nanotechnology, citizen robots with human rights, alternative energy supplying most or all of our needs, massive and continuous human life quality of life expansion, and lastly a cultural shift towards focus on creativity and innovation rather than just raw knowledge or technical skill will all be the biggest changes we will see. The end of that period will see the beginning of human voyages to off-world colonies and the use of space for our resource needs.

I could go further in to detail but I don't think that's necessary. ;)

You, like most before you, underestimate how long it takes for society to change. Few of those technologies will be widely used within one hundred years, never mind fifty. This is how you'd like the future to be, but as past predictions have shown, they're always wrong (at least in timescale by a significant factor). You're extremely overoptimistic.

1) The Optomistic View: Technological Increase coupled with population growth being kept under control. World hunger and poverty is reduced greatly. Colonies in space/on the moon are in planning if not already up there. Manned missions to Mars becoming a reality. New power source replaces oil, preferably something akin to Steorn's Orbo device.

2) Nuclear Holocaust: Self-explanatory

3) Western Decline: The West is replaced by China and India in terms of military/political/economic power. The US is weakened especially.

4) Robot War: Robots become sapient and try to kill us all.

5) Natural Extinction: Self-explanatory

You, like most before you, underestimate how long it takes for society to change. Few of those technologies will be widely used within one hundred years, never mind fifty. This is how you'd like the future to be, but as past predictions have shown, they're always wrong (at least in timescale by a significant factor). You're extremely overoptimistic.

What?:confused:

Most technologies in use today have been adopted very quickly and are being adopted at an increasing rate as the world economy develops and the market grows bigger and bigger. 15 years ago, the internet didn't even exist except as a university network and now it is one of the most important ways of conducting business, interacting with others, gathering data and disseminating media and products in existence. Or the cell phone, which two decades ago was bulky, expensive, and had a limited range and is now an indispensible communication device. The PDA is maybe 10 years old and is now standard in the business environment with millions of devices in use. It took only a decade from the invention of the first cars in 1897 to the rollout of the Model T in 1908. The airplane was being used in WWI by the military only a decade after its invention.

The television became a major part of our culture in a decade and that was 50 years ago. The radio We haven't had adoption scales for new technology that slow in a very long time; even the railroad, steam engine and telegraph were ubiquitous in 30-50 years after their first use and that was over a century ago. The cotton gin became a major component of the cotton industry almost overnight. Even the printing press revolutionized European commerce and education in less than a century and that was 500 years ago.

I wish this scenario remained on the pages of crappy novels. But this is simple extrapolation of the current trends. About the only thing I can see preventing the overpopulation crisis is miracle - the miracle of the people realizing they don't need to breed like rabbits. I don't see this happening.


What are you talking about? There is no overpopulation crisis. In fact, it's the exact opposite, Europe will have an underpopulation crisis soon.

There needs to be a 2.1 fertility ratio currently to support a stable population. Any lower than that, and a population will decrease quite quickly as a few generations pass. Countries like Spain, Russia, Estonia, Germany, and quite a few are far under this. America sits at a rather stable 2.07.

Once Europe's basic ancestry decreases, and Muslims immigrate into their country, it won't be the same anymore. It will destabilize into a land of Sharia.

~

However, America will probably suffer an economic crisis in the near future.

What are you talking about? There is no overpopulation crisis. In fact, it's the exact opposite, Europe will have an underpopulation crisis soon.
90% of the humankind doesn't live in Europe. The populations of Asia and Africa grow rapidly and will keep growing.

Most technologies in use today have been adopted very quickly and are being adopted at an increasing rate as the world economy develops and the market grows bigger and bigger.

You, too, are talking about the more or less developed countries. The majority of the human race lives in rapidly deteriorating conditions where children more than the internet access need access to potable water.

90% of the humankind doesn't live in Europe.

Yeah, if you can call that living!

Technological advancement, little radical change in the global order. That is, without the development of a major climate catastrophe.

I see stupid people doing stupid things.

well if the earth doesn't end by 2013 i don't know what i will do. probably have to get myself a real job that i can support myself and maybe some dependents off of.

Then what is the future?
Hm?
Many African countries already have high fertility rates, but they already have overpopulation crises.

And no, Japan has a similar problem, too.
Russia is part of Asia and has a fertility problem as well.
The only ones churning out babies are China and India, and well, the goverment is trying to stop people from fucking like rabbits.

I wish this scenario remained on the pages of crappy novels. But this is simple extrapolation of the current trends. About the only thing I can see preventing the overpopulation crisis is miracle - the miracle of the people realizing they don't need to breed like rabbits. I don't see this happening.

I've bolded the important bit.

The thing to remember is that "current trends" are always changing. They don't remain static. And trying to predict the future based on them is futile.

The thing to remember is that "current trends" are always changing. They don't remain static.
Obviously, I agree. Although it's hard not to agree with such a general statement.

And trying to predict the future based on them is futile.
Here you go too far. You can't extrapolate the trends into infinity, but some of them - namely the population growth rates - are so deep rooted in the society that I don't see them changing radiaclly in the near future.

I see war, blood, and death on a scale unprecedented in human history.

I believe the Resource Wars will start sometime between 2015 and 2025. This won't be about Oil; we have recognized that problem and are acting to deal with it. Instead, we will see nations snatching at those resources they must have, and have run out of: water, arable land, hi-tech materials such as Cobalt and Aluminum that are necessary for continued technological growth.

This will not be a war of alliances. All will be against all, because the winners will have a future, and the losers will not.

The developed nations will have the edge, but they will be unable (and perhaps unwilling) to continue to aid and help the undeveloped. Masses of refugees, displaced by war and exploding population growth, will try to get into the developed nations. Those nations will take what they can, but will have no choice but to turn away the rest, lest their own systems be overloaded.

Eventually, nations will start to collapse under the pressure. In places like Africa and East Asia, this will lead to domino collapses, as starving hordes overrun the very natons that might have been able to help them.

In the end, the Earth will be a quieter place.

Here you go too far. You can't extrapolate the trends into infinity, but some of them - namely the population growth rates - are so deep rooted in the society that I don't see them changing radiaclly in the near future.

The world's population growth rate has plunged since its peak in the 1950's and has kept falling, even below replacement in parts of Europe and Russia. The two biggest countries, China and India, have seen even more dramatic falls in the recent past due to their growing economies; China's seen its growth rate fall by 50% in the past 20 years, and India has seen its rate fall by an even bigger amount.

I see war, blood, and death on a scale unprecedented in human history.

I believe the Resource Wars will start sometime between 2015 and 2025. This won't be about Oil; we have recognized that problem and are acting to deal with it. Instead, we will see nations snatching at those resources they must have, and have run out of: water, arable land, hi-tech materials such as Cobalt and Aluminum that are necessary for continued technological growth.

This will not be a war of alliances. All will be against all, because the winners will have a future, and the losers will not.

The developed nations will have the edge, but they will be unable (and perhaps unwilling) to continue to aid and help the undeveloped. Masses of refugees, displaced by war and exploding population growth, will try to get into the developed nations. Those nations will take what they can, but will have no choice but to turn away the rest, lest their own systems be overloaded.

Eventually, nations will start to collapse under the pressure. In places like Africa and East Asia, this will lead to domino collapses, as starving hordes overrun the very natons that might have been able to help them.

In the end, the Earth will be a quieter place.

Yup. That is what I see, too.

You, too, are talking about the more or less developed countries. The majority of the human race lives in rapidly deteriorating conditions where children more than the internet access need access to potable water.

World poverty is plunging and more and more of the world is developing than ever before. The situation is far from deteriorating for most of the world but is in fact significantly improving as the world economy booms and more and more people can share in its benefits. The world poverty rate is at its lowest since it was first recorded and continues to fall. China and India are developing rapidly and their people are seeing significant and lasting improvements in their living standards.

Africa is a huge problem, nobody can deny that. But it is a problem that can be addressed if we put the resources to it and actually work on it rather than ignore it. In fact, that is really the main location of the world's significant humanitarian problems.

You can't extrapolate the trends into infinity, but some of them - namely the population growth rates - are so deep rooted in the society that I don't see them changing radiaclly in the near future.

Population growth rates change all the time. The world is currently in a period of a slowly dropping growth rate. It is estimated tha the worlds population will peak in the next 75 to 100 years and then start declining.

Here is one source (there are many if you look for them):

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/08/0806_population.html

"The foreboding threat of world disaster from explosive population growth could turn out to be overly alarmist, say the authors of a new demographic study.

Their forecast shows there's a high chance that the world's population will stop growing before the end of the 21st century. It suggests that the total number of people may peak in 70 years or so at about 9 billion people, compared with 6.1 billion today. "

Of course this forcast (like all others) is based on "current trends" and is subject to change either downward or up.

And for some more info on changes in population growht rates check out this Wiki article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_population

"In 2000, the United Nations estimated that the world's population was then growing at the rate of 1.14% (or about 75 million people) per year[6]. According to data from the CIA's 2005-2006 World Factbooks, the world human population currently increases by 203,800 every day.[7] The 2007 CIA factbook increased this to 211,090 people every day.

Globally, the population growth rate has been steadily declining from its peak of 2.19% in 1963, but growth remains high in the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.[8]"


"Death rates can change unexpectedly due to disease, wars and catastrophes, or advances in medicine. The UN itself has issued multiple projections of future world population, based on different assumptions. Over the last 10 years, the UN had consistently revised these projections downward, until the 2006 revision issued March 14, 2007 revised the 2050 mid range estimate upwards by 273 million."

"In 1798, Thomas Malthus predicted that population growth would eventually outrun food supply in the middle of the 19th century, resulting in catastrophe. In 1968, Paul R. Ehrlich reignited this argument with his book The Population Bomb, which helped give the issue significant attention throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The dire predictions of Ehrlich and other neo-Malthusians were vigorously challenged by a number of economists, notably Julian Simon.

On the opposite end of the spectrum there are a number of doomsayers who argue that today's low fertility rates will have severe negative consequences.[13]"

Uh... I wanted to link the same source :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overpopulation#Population_projectiles
and say that probably the growth will be affected by the depletion of necessary resources on one hand and the advances in medical sciences on the other but...
You together with Vetalia (and a bottle of fresh unpasteurised ambrosia from certain small brewery) convinced me that world isn't going to hell on rollerskates.
Not tonight, at least.
Thanks! :)

You together with Vetalia (and a bottle of fresh unpasteurised ambrosia from certain small brewery) convinced me that world isn't going to hell on rollerskates.
Not tonight, at least.
Thanks! :)

What ambrosia would that be? ;) It's been a long time since I've been able to have a truly good drink around here...

What do you see happening in the world in the next 50 years? Do you see any major political changes? Maybe the rise of a new form of music? What do you forsee?

I predict that another radical party will ruin the US worse than Bush did, WWIII will eventually occur due to all the debris from the "war on terror", China will replace the US as the top world power and oppress all, global warming will get worse, people will reach a whole new level of stupid and/or ridiculas and earth and the whole solar system will eventually get engulfed by a black hole because our solar system just happened to be in it's path.

What ambrosia would that be? ;)
Its name wouldn't tell you much... It's a strong dark beer (a little bit too strong for my taste), as I said unpasteurised, kind of stout. It's made in small quantities by a small brewery of Czarnków (Tcharnkoov) town. I had to leave my phone number at the store so they coud tell me when they have a fresh delivery.

I see a slightly more optomistic future than many people here. I am confident that through a mix of technological inovations, smart legislation and a change in attitudes, many of our problems can be overcome. The most pressing problem is our dependence on oil. but through conservation and new technologies, we should be able to thow off the yoke of oil.

Yes, global warming is going to get worse, but it is not going to spell the end of civilization. The hallmark of the human race has been its ablitiy to adapt. I'm sure the world will look very different politically in 50 years but that's to be expected. The one constant in politics has been change.

As for fresh water, overpopulation, depletion of resources and rampant famine, the answer again is the right mix of technological inovations, smart legislation and an attitude adjustment. Is it going to be easy? Hell no! I'm sure there are going to be many more wars, famines, and enviromental disasters but if we are willing to work for it, we can overcome it all.

There are no easy answers and no one solution will solve all the problems but as long we are still breathing, we can choose our own destiny.

The EU and the planned North American Union will grow stronger. Soon enough, all of the west will be living under dictatorial mega-states ruled by incompetent and avaricious demagogues, with every right being defined not as a moral power to something but as merely a grant from the almighty government. Hopefully, I can avoid this.