What do you think the world will be like in 50 years time?

[NotExactlyOptimistic]

Doubt it'll be my problem by then but what do you think? Will life be sunnier or more depressing? Will the NHS still exist? Will covid STILL be around our necks? Will it be prison time by then if people refuse their 43457875th booster? Will there still be a royal family? Will house buying be a possibility? What trades will have died out by then? What gadgets or Internet platforms will have been invented that people can't do without? Does Facebook still exist? There will be an international superstar who's parents haven't even met yet. What clothes will people be wearing? What global events will have happened by then? Imagine how big the list of things people are offended by will be by then... if you could take a peek would you be excited or too shit scared to look?

I’m 50 and the way we live now is in some ways very similar to when I was born. But the technology advances, medical advances are huge. If I live to 100, that probably won’t be unusual. I’d expect to see cures for most types of cancer, treatment for depression, obesity.

Prison will be different, no longer just locking people up.

I think there’ll be step changes with climate change as it effects the developed world. I suspect what we see as the developed world will change. There’ll have probably been another big war of some kind.

We will be eating meat made in labs. The idea of throwing away plastic etc will seem unforgivable.

I can’t really think about the future beyond the certainty that current governments will fail to act on climate change and thus we will continue to steadily destroy the world. I don’t worry about my future but I do worry about DS’s. It amazes me that people still have the courage to have babies - I can’t imagine deciding to have a baby now, given the state the world’s in. What do the next eighty years hold for a baby born now?

I don't think much will change, it's 50 years not 500!

People have always thought that way about having babies, but even after contraception became freely available, people have still always had babies.

In terms of AI solving our problems...

The trouble is AI reflects the prejudices of its programmers, the data it can get hold of etc- and is likely to show the same predispositions as humans. The phrase is “garbage in, garbage out”

www.newscientist.com/article/2166207-discriminating-algorithms-5-times-ai-showed-prejudice/

I wouldn’t be looking to AI to solve anything, & do genuinely worry that the biggest issue/danger with AI, is our hand in it.

I think we will be in Great Northern Land - a happy and friendly unity of UK, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, might allow Denmark in and Iceland if they do as they're told. But the united Atlantic edge countries of Great Northern Land control fishing and wind driven energy for the rest of western Europe. By then the money will be shared out more and though we won't be rich like some countries (US) we will get along happily with a fair and supportive society. Difficulty will be keeping others out!

@VaguelyInteresting

That is exactly what the interviewee was saying: that we need to think of AI as our child, because they are learning from us all the time, and they are learning how to be sentient from us. So for every angry, racist, abusive Twitter spat - some AI just learned a little bit more about how to be angry and abusive and racist and to believe that this is the right way to behave. Instead, we should treat AI as we would our own child if we want them to “grow up” to be kind, considerate, etc then that’s what should demonstrate. So be kind and polite to Alexa and Siri because they are always listening and learning!

He was optimistic: I have to say I’m not so much. I’ve recently come off Twitter and feel a lot better for it.

The other thing that stuck in my mind from it was just how many jobs are going to become redundant in the nearish future, including - bizarrely enough - programming / coding, because AI will be able to write, test, apply, improve its own code far better and faster than any puny human! Ditto pretty much every job that requires any form of “intelligence”.

@Yusanaim

I think we will be in Great Northern Land - a happy and friendly unity of UK, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, might allow Denmark in and Iceland if they do as they're told. But the united Atlantic edge countries of Great Northern Land control fishing and wind driven energy for the rest of western Europe. By then the money will be shared out more and though we won't be rich like some countries (US) we will get along happily with a fair and supportive society. Difficulty will be keeping others out!

Well that sounds nice. I hope that happens!

Choosing 50 years is interesting because we can easily look back the same 'distance' yet we know it will move faster than we think now.
We shall still be arguing about Climate Change because we risk not having made a dent in it. More scientists such as Geologists will have more information about historic temperature cycles. Archaeologists will have more information about communities that lived before the last ice-age. Or even before the presence of humans.
This will be seriously worrying because we start to realise that we can do nothing to reverse the main process deep in the earths core.
Currently we have hope that eradicating plastic and fossil fuels and
similar measures we humans can regain control. I am pessimistic.
In 50 years time, we will have solved the Fishing Dispute but the French will have found a new argument to have with us.

@Yusanaim, I like your world better than mine. But I suppose they could combine.

Part of me thinks we will end similar to how the world is depicted in the movie 'The Road' . The other part of me thinks, meh we will struggle on and survive and adapt as we have to along the way.

Why is everyone so negative. The evidence from history shows that humanity only progresses and improves over time.

Proportionately, the population living with active conflict is the lowest it’s ever been. Fewer people are living in absolute poverty. We are more educated than ever.

We’ll manage climate change, by adapting with technology advancements.

You have a warped view due to the media. Have faith and hope because in 50 years the world will be better than ever for humanity.

I know this is the worse thing to say on a parenting site ,, but the world population needs to stop having so many children . For full disclosure , I have 2 ,
From a save the world perspective , and a look to the future , should I have had them ?
We all know why we have kids ( or do we ? ) but I think it's probably out of selfishness , because we want them , because it's what most people do , because we met someone nice enough to have kids with , because it's expected of us .
All of those reasons and probably more. But in reality , did me having kids improve the bigger picture of saving the world ? Answer , definitely not .
I worry about my grandchildrens future world , and your grandchildren future world as well , and honestly I think that if our children or grandchildren decided not to have kids themselves then they are giving the world a better chance than I did.

I think the population will be decimated. Extreme weather events destroying crops leading with famines that make Ethiopia in the 80s look like a supermarket shortage.

I don’t think there is the political will and vision to make the changes needed, so humanity as it exists now is buggered.

1971 - 50 years ago. Would anyone have predicted 2021? Would they have imagined things to be 'worse' or 'better' as per now?

Can we expect the same leap in tech etc in that time frame as now? Surely it will be exponentially bigger (?)

Climate change isn't a result of too many children
It's a result of what the children do
If the adults continue as they are the children will die young, from starvation, lack of water, disease, fighting over land , heat stroke

The reason to it have children isn't to save the planet , it's to save them pain

China will be the main world leader and dominate everything like the US used to.

Most people will be unable to reproduce.

The Tories will still be in power ( but under Chinese control)

Vladimir Putin's brain will have been implanted into a Chinese made cyborg body and he'll still be in charge of Russia (under Chinese direction.

The US will be like the world in Mad Max and everyone will be crazy, gun toting outlaws.

Christmas will last all year round and people will be driven insane with the pressure to see relatives every day and buy endless presents.

If we don't end civilization or even most of life on earth through our lack of action on the climate, there's still some pretty bleak stuff on the horizon.

The idea of family will be gone, many babies will be made to order in artificial wombs. Women who try to explain the mother-baby bond and how important it is for babies to develop a bond with their mothers will be treated like heretics, like "TERFs" are now.

Elsewhere surrogacy will be a huge human rights issue with poor women routinely exploited with their wombs rented for rich people. (As is already happening right now, but even more nomalised and widespread).

Designer babies will be normal - not strictly legal but everyone will do it. Human reproduction will be commodified. People will get body modifications like wings, tails, enhanced strength and senses.
The developed world will still shit on the less developed world and fight wars there.

Most of the world will be effectively a totalitarian state because of how far tech has integrated into our lives, there is no privacy. You can't hide from the state - everything you do it monitored.

Or - we realise that technology doesn't necessarily = progress, we put the women in charge for a change and try to build a better world.

Feeling pretty cynical this morning!

It is estimated we'll run out of water within 40 years. This scenario is already being played out in Syria and contributed to the war!! Look no further than there. This is what it will look like!!
South Africa came very close recently and if it hadn't been averted then there would have been major civil unrest and possible war.
Eco systems need to be restored and very quickly.
So IMO consumers need to act and not wait for the politicians or the corporations, Consumers need to understand the eco systems that are being destroyed to satisfy their greed for the latest fashion item.
For example do you know how much water it takes to grow cotton for your denim jeans?
Do you know about the eco system destroyed for tin for your mobile phone?
For example what would happen if everybody stopped buying unnecessary items? Stopped buying from countries that are damaging those eco systems?
What would happen if everyone stopped buying macdonalds tomorrow?
Live simply so people may simply live. A message from the ancients thousands of years ago.

Have faith and hope people!

I think the world will be a better place in 50 years time. It’s certainly a lot better for many people across the planet in 2021 than it was in 1971. Humanity is amazing at survival and adapting to thrive.