Your thoughts on the future

[minkus_334]

Boy I really hope there isn't an existing thread on this subject...

So, what does everyone think of the future? What do you think it will be like, in terms of religion, politics, other factors...

Here is a hypothetical situation I came up with as I was reading my Geography textbook: When all of the countries in the world are equal in all aspects, such as development, government, and oppurtunities, then what motivation would people have to work in the lower class jobs, like food service, or janitorial work? Movement to other countries would halt to a standstill, because who would need to come to the ?Land of Oppurtunity? if they have the same oppurtunities in their country? We would all be required to learn necessary skills, and be completely interchangeable drones. Or, all lower class jobs would be ?manned? by machines, and as any paranoid fan of the Terminator movies can tell you, that plan has its flaws too.

Tell us all what you think of the future.

[James]

[color=#707875]Wow, this is a really open question. I guess that it depends how far into the future you're talking. But also, it's important to remember that people who make predictions about the future are often wrong. There were so many predictions made over the last century, most of which never came to fruition.

And even within a period of five or ten years, things change so much, especially with technology evolving at the pace that it is today.

I think it will be a [i]long [/i]time before every country is equal in terms of opportunity and economic development. But it's more likely to happen than not. I'm always of the belief that the world continuously improves and becomes more tolerant. And if you follow that line of thinking to its conclusion...you get a very clear picture of where things could (or should) go.

You raised an interesting point about machines. Already, there are many types of machines that have replaced human jobs. Automotive assembly lines, for example. Where once you used to have thousands of factory workers involved on assembly lines for all sorts of products, you now primarily see various kinds of robots.

Robots are also increasingly being used to clear mines and to diffuse bombs -- they're doing the jobs that are too dangerous for humans. I think that trend will probably continue. And as time goes by, I guess we can assume that the population will become more educated and will gravitate toward more professional work in general.

A lot of people seem to get this idea that if machines become too intelligent, they will overtake humans. But I think that's a kinda bizarre viewpoint, if you consider all the facts. For one thing, it will be a long time before machines come anywhere close to human intelligence. You'd definitely need some pretty advanced quantum computing, to deliver even a fraction of what the human brain can offer on all levels. And quantum computing (like nanotechnology and interstellar space travel) is still in its infancy. It's being worked on, but it's still only in the very early stages of development.

There are just so many issues to discuss though. I don't think I could raise every point in one post, by a long shot.

One thing that's interesting is the idea of how nations are identified/perceived. You've got the EU as probably the best example of continual integration of nation states. The EU has been working on its own "European Constitution" and there are discussions about developing a single EU defense force. Then there's the Euro, a single currency for (almost) the entire region. Eventually you can imagine that the European nation states will just be "states" within a European nation. I think that's a pretty likely future for that part of the world.

There has even been discussion about making a single asian currency, or at least a single currency between Australia and New Zealand. Nobody can decide whether to eliminate the NZ currency or the Australian currency though, or whether a third currency with a new value should be developed. I think this is all an example of economic progress. Because, if you think about it, having dozens and dozens of different currencies is a pretty inefficient way to operate, especially in a global economic setting.

I'm certainly not an economist, but a lot of people seem to agree on where things are going, in that sense.

But again, there are so many issues to talk about. It'd be interesting to see what people think about this question.[/color]

[black bird]

What do I think of the future ? Well I can't look into to future on what's to come , but I can guess . I have a few ideas about the environment that I think a lot of people do realize it but do not anything about it . I now some stuff about a few other things to , but here are my guesses of the future :

I will think that the earths fossil fuel will be used up very soon now . We are already so more advanced on terms of technoally that I'm wondering why are we still using fossil fuels ? :grumble: But anyway I think that as long as the fossil fuels aren?t used up were going to continue with polluting but in time we are forced to switch to other sources of fuel .

The climate will be a big factor in this , the weather is already changing because the earth is getting warmer and I think as time passes it will only get warmer . The ice capes melt , the water rises witch causes new problems and the weather will be seriously messed up with serious consequences .

I also think that the population will grow to much , the earth simply can't handle that much people . The sweet water will be used up and you will get new diseases because people live to close together and live to close to animals ( think of Sars ) . :sick:

I also think that America will not be the world's ......ehhhmmm how do you say this ... the best in economy anymore . I think Asia is seriously competing with America in terms of economy . I also think that the divergences between rich and poor will always exist . :bawl:

This world is already very knowledge orientated , diploma's will be less worth . You will have to study longer for a certain job and every one will be continued to be higher educated than the previous generation .

To come back on your machine thought of the future , I will think that a lot of jobs will be taken over by machines but not like the matrix or anything . I think this will lead to more unemployment because a the population grows and the number of jobs will become smaller because machines do a lot of the work now .

About the population and work thing , I think the number of old people will rise and the number of young people will drop . In my country , I don't know if it is like this in your country to but , but in my country old people get 70 % of there last earned wage to live of for the rest of there old days (per month that is) . The young working people pay for this , only an amount . This system can no longer exists in the near future because the number of old people that one working man/woman will have to support will be to large because the number of old people will grow and the number of young people will shrink .

Conclusion : Nice future , not :nope:

Well that's pretty much it ....
bye :wave:

[Godelsensei]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]It will, as James said, be a very, very long time before (if ever) all countries are on the same economic platform. While some countries are developing at an extremely rapid pace (i.e. China), others seem to be sitting in the middle of a rut (i.e. Haiti).

It would take a computer the size of a skyscraper to preform all the functions of the human brain. That is, if you could figure out how to programm it accordingly, and build it. [I]"Will I dream, Dave?"[/I] Nope.

In 100 years, the population is predicted to reach a head, like I stated in another thread, of about 8 billion, then slowly begin to decrease.

I think one of the major problems of the future (in the West, at least), will be the rather lethargic lifestyle that us North Americans lead.

I have some ideas about the internet:

We are, really, at the begining stages of the 'net. There are very few things stopping us from pirating and scamming people. Among the millions of people who have perfectly good intentions online, there are still millions who do not.
In maybe fifteen years, I think the Internet will really be less open, in a sense.

Pirating will be dealt with in the same manner as shoplifting, there will be more security over the internet. The world of cyber space is still being organized, so to speak.
Our children will be appalled and shocked when we tell them about how we used to pirate pretty much everything. Well, perhaps they wont be shocked. And maybe they'll be jealous, as oppose to appalled, but you get my drift. Neh?

The rift between social classes is going to grow, as well, methinks.

I also agree with the point that the US is going to no longer be at the top of the economic staircase. I'm not saying it's going to crumple into oblivion, however. Just that other countries are going to become more successful. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[FartMaster745]

[SIZE=1]You know what stinks? Its when you type out this really lost post then by accident you double click in this here replies typing-area-box and ther browser sendsme me to some random place and wehn you press back, the prely has dissapeared.

I think in the future, Children will become smater than most adults today, though most children are already smater than their parents today. I think that one day, in the far future, everyone will look hispantic.

For this reason. If you look at the settlers in the islands down by Puerto Rico and look at their history, you'll notice that the natives where orginally Asians. Then Spanish settlers came along and eventually mated. Then white settlers came over and they joined the party. Then we have the slaves.

Since travel on Earth is always improving, in speed and distance wise, not eviormentally, more people will have access to other parts of the world and eventually everyone will be so mixed that they will never be able to chose and differeniate which race they are like we do today. So i think the end result of all the different races mixed together would give us a hispanic look.

In the far, far future, I think people will start to look the liek the stereotype alien. The green(not neccesarilly green), big headed, big eyed aliens. Us people are visual animals, we get most of our information of the area around us by sight. That explains they big eyes. The big head is for our never ending quest for knowledge. It grows as we learn.

Then we have technology....- I think I'll stop here, its 12 in the morning and I'm just too tired from doing all of those "Dips" that Heaven's Cloud taught me.[/SIZE]

[sublime2004]

[quote name='minkus_334']When all of the countries in the world are equal in all aspects, such as development, government, and oppurtunities, then what motivation would people have to work in the lower class jobs, like food service, or janitorial work?[/quote]

[size=1][b][color=darkred]
What the hell is that supposed to mean? The food-service part, I mean. I certainly hope you meant that part to be for McDonald's employees. I take personal offense at people belittling the food-service industry. I'm not calling you stupid for saying that, I can see how people might think that food service is "lower-class". But, really think about how many people actually work in food-service.

How many restaurants did you got to last week? There are tens of millions in the U.S. alone. And we're not the most culinarily advanced civilization in the world, if you know what I mean. I seriously doubt that there'll be any shortage of employees in the food industry. Ever.

Well, maybe not "ever". But not for, at least, a century or two.

On another matter, I really don't forsee much of a decline in any so-called "lower-class" jobs. It is not, and will never be a matter of opportunity. It's a matter of motivation. People are lazy. And I can tell you right now, It's going to get a lot worse before it gets any better.

America is comfortable, just as it is, sitting on its fat arse, working at said McDonald's.

(Keep in mind, that I am talking about America in all these first lines. I make no assumptions about any other nation.)

Somebody said that all of the water is gonna go away after all of the ice caps melt, or something to that effect. I won't even begin on the fundamental flaws of that statement. Nuff said.

On the matter of fossil fuels... I believe that the world will lose its dependancy on them sooner than you may think. Hydrogen cels are being developed that go further, faster and more efficiently. The only problem is with the shortage of pure hydrogen.

I know what you may be thinking: Hydrogen is one of the most abundant elements in the universe. True. But most of that hydrogen has already bonded with other elements to make practical use of it impossible. It's only a matter of time, though, before they solve this problem.

And, not to mention MagLev technology. It's come a long way. I have seen a basic design for an under-ocean MagLev vacuum transit system in the works in "Popular Science" magazine. I really have no idea if this system will actually be utilized, but the math seems solid.

On the matter of politics. Who needs 'em? All they do is get in the way and annoy people. Keep in mind that I am grossly undereducated in the field of politics.

Religion. Ah, that old nutshell... It's only a matter of time before politicians think that they can solve this issue once and for all. I know they think they can do something about it now. But it's gonna be a long time before they can actually get anywere with it. As long as excommunicated extremist groups are misinformed, closed-minded and even suicidal, there'll be no progress whatsoever. (Again, if I assume too much, please forgive me.)

[quote name='minkus_334']Here is a hypothetical situation I came up with as I was reading my Geography textbook: When all of the countries in the world are equal in all aspects, such as development, government, and oppurtunities, then what motivation would people have to work in the lower class jobs, like food service, or janitorial work? Movement to other countries would halt to a standstill, because who would need to come to the ?Land of Oppurtunity? if they have the same oppurtunities in their country? We would all be required to learn necessary skills, and be completely interchangeable drones. Or, all lower class jobs would be ?manned? by machines, and as any paranoid fan of the Terminator movies can tell you, that plan has its flaws too.[/quote]

The truth is, if there is no if opporunities are the same all over the world, then the entire planet becomes the land of opportunity. It'll then become a matter of where you feel comfortable living. Or, if your job is region specific (i.e. farming).

I have no opinion on the last two sentences of that quote. Well, I shouldn't say I have no opinion. I'm just not quite sure how to express it at the moment. Anyway, if you havent read the book [URL=http://www.huxley.net/bnw/][color=blue][u]Brave New World[/u][/color][/URL] by Aldous Huxley, you should. That is the perfect novel if you are considering all of the possibilities on that issue. That guy was a genius.(I'm sure the mescaline helped his viewpoint, though.) I suggest highly that all of you, anyone reading this post, ever, at any time, read his works.

If you have read [u]Brave New World[/u] or [u]The Island[/u], I seriously wouldn't be surprised if the world really did turn out like that. (I'd be anxious to try the soma[inside joke])

On the point of overpopulation... I really have no idea.

Finally, click the link above to read my favorite book of all time.(hehe)

BTW: If it matters... I'm American.

[/size][/b][/color]

[black bird]

Somebody said that all of the water is gonna go away after all of the ice caps melt, or something to that effect. I won't even begin on the fundamental flaws of that statement. Nuff said.

I didn't say that the [B]all[/B] the water is going to be gone or anything . I just think that al the sweet water , the natural sweet water sources in the ground will be used up . Okay I admit maybe you can get the salt out of the salt water and use it as sweet water but I definitely think the natural [B]sweet[/B] water sources in the [B]ground[/B] will be used up in time .

About the ice capes , yeah they are sweet water to but when they melt and the sweet water get's into the ocean it turns into salt water . Just for the record salt water is in oceans and seas . If the ice capes melt the water in the oceans and seas will rice , duh . The climate will be disturbed by this as well . It's already proven that it has rained more because the earth is getting warmer , it's also proven that the water has risen because of the melting of the ice caps . So there you go

bye :wave:

[sublime2004]

[b][size=1]
And, I also said I'm sorry if I assumed too much... Apparantly, I did. I really think that, by the time the ice caps melt down completely, it will have happened at a slow enough rate that the world can adjust. Holland would be screwed. But I think studies have shown that the world would hardly be completely submerged in water when they finally do.

I'm not berrating your last post, black bird. This is just one more point I wanted to make.[/b][/size]

[black bird]

Holland would be screwed.

Funny that you say that , I live in Holland . And I read in the news papers a few weeks ago that the west of Holland will be under water in about 50 years ... eek!!!! :eek: That's why my ice cap worries .....

[sublime2004]

[QUOTE=black bird]Holland would be screwed.

Funny that you say that , I live in Holland . And I read in the news papers a few weeks ago that the west of Holland will be under water in about 50 years ... eek!!!! :eek: That's why my ice cap worries .....[/QUOTE]

[size=1][b] No crap!?! Pardon me if I find that FRICKIN' HILARIOUS. Not about the underwater part. About you living in Holland. I went to Amsterdam once. A long, long time ago. Nice countryside, I remember. Then I think we drove to The Hague. Is that in Holland? I'm not good with geography. [/size][/b]

[Fall]

If you ask me, I think the worst will happen before it all starts getting better. Chaos will break out. That's all I can say.

Devastation will grip the planet, man. Racism will run every day after every day. It might all seem well and good now, in the boundaries of control. But it'll all break loose. It'll all grow.

The bad era needs to occur before anything good can happen to this world, my view is. This world is running on broken tracks. There'll be another war, soon there'll be three wars, than world war. World domination will be the main worry. Another Hitler will rise and the Great Depression will happen over again, on a huge scale. All will start from the results of better over worse. The world will run on one currency, one side, all from the minds of people wanting to make this planet all the more better than what it can be. One country following the trails of Hitler, invading neighbouring countries, chasing world control.

Once all that could happen before the world crumbles actually happens, people will come to terms with what's happened, and drop everything. We'll fall at the mistakes of ourselves. Start again.

-
Yeah, a stained view, hey. But I've believed this for ages. It's all I can think that will happen. I find it truly hard to believe that it can only get better from here in the future.

[black bird]

[quote name='sublime2004][size=1][b] No crap!?! Pardon me if I find that FRICKIN' HILARIOUS. Not about the underwater part. About you living in Holland. I went to Amsterdam once. A long, long time ago. Nice countryside, I remember. Then I think we drove to The Hague. Is that in Holland? I'm not good with geography. [/size'][/b][/quote]

Ehhhh ....? Why do you think living in Holland is so hilarious ? That's the problem with you tourists , you think if you've seen two cities you have seen the hole country . Well I got news for you : not every city in Holland is the same as Amsterdam or The Hague . Sorry about that but it has bugged me a long time , don't take it personal . And yes Amsterdam and The Hague are in Holland . Pardon me for saying this but I think it's rather stupid if you go on a holiday and you don't even know in witch country you are . Anyway I don't know where you live most of you on OB are from America , I guess . I've never been there but it would be nice to pay it a visit some day . San Francisco seems a very nice city to me , very diverse . Wel that's al
bye :wave:

[Ryan]

[size=1][font=times new roman][COLOR=DarkOrchid]I don't want to try and come up with theories about the future, because I will be wrong. I really don't know, and neither does anyone else. That is what makes it suspensful.[/COLOR][/size][/font]

[Panda]

I would have to say that my thoughts on the future are best summed up in a quote by Spike in Cowboy Bebop...."Whatever happens, happens." The only thing for sure I can say about the future is it will dish up the unexpected. Advances in technology moved much faster (and slower) than we thought in the past. A great example of technology moving slower is any sci-fi movie made in the past 50 years. If you watch a sci-fi movie from the 50's we all should be living on Mars and teleporting to where we want to be! lol

As for technology moving faster, we now have many advances in pharmacology and medicine that wasn't dreamed of a few years ago. The growth of the internet and computers in just the last 20 years has far exceeded that of those "in the know".

I guess to sum up, I would have to say the future is wide open and just take it as it comes. Environmental changes, political conflicts, personal growth...it will all happen in the future. So, whatever happens, happens.

[sublime2004]

[quote name='black bird']Ehhhh ....? Why do you think living in Holland is so hilarious ? That's the problem with you tourists , you think if you've seen two cities you have seen the hole country . Well I got news for you : not every city in Holland is the same as Amsterdam or The Hague . Sorry about that but it has bugged me a long time , don't take it personal . And yes Amsterdam and The Hague are in Holland . Pardon me for saying this but I think it's rather stupid if you go on a holiday and you don't even know in witch country you are . Anyway I don't know where you live most of you on OB are from America , I guess . I've never been there but it would be nice to pay it a visit some day . San Francisco seems a very nice city to me , very diverse . Wel that's al[/quote]
[b][size=1][color=darkred]

Excuse me? Who the hell do you think you are? I was merely pointing out the fact that that I said that "Holland is screwed" and the coincidence that you lived there. How dare you overgeneralize and stereotype all tourists like you have just done. I toured seven countries in total, in just a couple months. So,[i]forgive me[/i] if I forget which one a particular city is in.

I do believe that I mentioned that "It was a very long time ago and I don't remember much" considering I was only 8 at the time, sick as a dog and slept half the time I was touring Europe. So don't assume that I have no clue what I'm talking about, or that just because I was a tourist, means you have any right to call me stupid, or my foggy memory stupid.

But, don't take it personal.

BTW: About the whole sweet water thing... If all of the ice caps melt, and the earth will be so warm, wouldn't that mean there's gonna be more rainwater? I just read an article about a guy who's been bottling and selling rainwater, successfully, for 14 years. Think about it.

[/b][/size][/color]

[black bird]

Excuse me? Who the hell do you think you are? I was merely pointing out the fact that that I said that "Holland is screwed" and the coincidence that you lived there. How dare you overgeneralize and stereotype all tourists like you have just done. I toured seven countries in total, in just a couple months. So,[i]forgive me[/i] if I forget which one a particular city is in.

I do believe that I mentioned that "It was a very long time ago and I don't remember much" considering I was only 8 at the time, sick as a dog and slept half the time I was touring Europe. So don't assume that I have no clue what I'm talking about, or that just because I was a tourist, means you have any right to call me stupid, or my foggy memory stupid.

I was not trying to put you down or anything . And I didn't call you stupid for being a tourist . I also didn't knew you were eight and sick . But I hope you knew in witch country you were at the moment you were there . If you didn't ...... I still think it's stupid . I'm sorry for thinking that but I still do . That's the way it is , deal with it . And another thing I don't want to argue about such an unimportant and stupid thing . In my case sorry for having a prejudice . But anyway my well meant apology . What do you want me to say ? Okay I admit not all tourists are the same , so there you go . Are we cool again ?

BTW: About the whole sweet water thing... If all of the ice caps melt, and the earth will be so warm, wouldn't that mean there's gonna be more rainwater? I just read an article about a guy who's been bottling and selling rainwater, successfully, for 14 years. Think about it.

Yeah I know about recycling rain water . At my home we have a rain barrel where we the rain falls in and then we recycle the water . But I still think the sweet water sources in the ground will be used up . I had to learn all kind of stuff about water in geography . And in my geography book was a prediction about that . It could be wrong but I don't think so . The modern human in rich countries use a lot of water a day . I don't know how much litres it was a day . But I do know that the average human in a dry third world country uses an average of 5 litres a day and I do remember that there was an huge difference between the use of water in rich and in poor countries .(Just for the record to flush a toilet you use 8 litres so then you already used more then 5 litres.) Wel that's it bye :wave:

[Darius_Stomu]

...I don't know how this turned into a post-thingy about Holland, but it's odd...

Anyways, I don't think we'll have much of a future to look at unless we stop being such screw up, which, I've learned from many video games, can never happen unless every one in the world became the same religion or had the same government. Not that I'd like a society like that, being that I hate government and don't have a religion. Hell, I just want my own little island so as I can be me. My dark, secretive, sadistic, me.

[minkus_334]

Sorry black bird, sublime2004, but please take your holland convo somewhere else, like in private messages or something. This is a post on what you think about the future.

I haven't looked at this thread since today, so I'll try to answer all questions. On your indignity concerning my food service comment, sublime2004, I meant no offence towards restaurants. I didn't mean offence towards fast food chains, either, but they're who the "food service" comment was direted towards. Also I realize some flaws with my "terminator" comment. I don't think it's a very smart idea to give robots a human's intelligence (and I realize the near-impossibility of it too) so I don't think we will.

Well, I can't remember any other questions right now, so I guess that's it.

[JulyFlame]

Here's what will eventually happen.
Mexico will plunge into a civil war, it's corrupt goverment and the higher class against the 'lower' class people, the ones in slums and the like. The U.S. will intervene, probably on the side of the goverment, though many will object and help the lower classes.
There will be an eruption of wars in Africa, due to population growth and AIDS, prehaps before 2100.

The world population will have a negative growth (naturally, hopefully) and and then will stabilize to a pop. growth of 0. By 2600.

Parents will take care of their children until they are in the mid 20s, as the lenght of human lives will lengthen considerablably(sp?). 2100

Most services, i.e. Burger King, Roto-Rooter,Circle K, will eventually and gradually be taken by machines, overseen by a few people in that store/job. 2020 to 2100

Engineering will see a large increase in jobs availible in that field, and the average paycheck for engineers will rise, and then lower, to prehaps that of the min. wage. 2020 to 2100.

There will be only several currencies in the world, one or two per continent. 2100 to 2200.

Someone will, inevitably, conquer Antartica.Now-? ;)
That's what I see.