What will be the next thing that everyone goes through together?

[travelingtortoise]

I was just looking through my journals from 2020 and thinking about how I'd never experienced something like COVID where absolutely everyone was affected in some way by it.

Of course there are loads of political / social events that impact large swathes of society, but that clear, defined period of lockdowns, government updates, and everyone thinking/talking about the same topic because every single household was impacted was totally new (to me at least).

It got me wondering - is that going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience? Or might there be other events that have the same reach? And if so, what might they be?

Not asking this to be a downer, by the way – I know it's unlikely to be anything very positive, and I wouldn't wish a repeat on anyone, but there was something really quite remarkable about it.

Athlete's foot.
The disappointment of 'lower sugar' baked beans.
Cat videos.

But if it wouldn't suffer from being left, it also won't feel joy when you come home.

So what's the point?

I do believe AI is going to be huge and is going to change the world...and I do believe it can go horribly wrong and very much hope it doesn't.

However, virtual pets I just don't think will happen.

I agree that if this was something that was going to happen, tamigotchis would have been improved and still be about.

A fake pet like a tamogotchi may be fun for young kids who have huge, vivid imaginations to pretend they're real. I just cannot envision adults doing this.

"Shit! We forgot to feed Rover!"
"Don't worry....he's not real, remember?"
"Oh yeah, of course. Will we stay here another night or two, it's lovely, isn't it?"
"Yes, why not, the dogs just a robot, no need for us to rush home."

I just don't see it.

So in other words, the Bank of England IS the central bank.

If it becomes self aware, it could decide that it needs to get rid of humanity for self preservation. Or, it could decide that the planet is more important than humanity and get rid of us to save it

No, but it could act like it felt joy when I came home. It's a bit of a sad idea that it's ok to stress an animal out by leaving it, because then it will be pleased to see you when you return.

And not separate. Not sure what poster means by 'commercial arm,' either. BoE doesn't do commercial/corporate banking.

That's not at all what I meant. I was just meaning that it won't feel joy or any emotion as it's not a living creature, so what is the point.

I wasn't at all suggesting that you leave an animal to make it feel sad just so that it then feels joy when you return.

@MrsDanversGlidesAgain Maybe its a detachable arm? Like a pirate might have with a metal hook on it. So the BoE can detach itself from the central bank when it feels like it?

I've walked past the BoE many times and it's a bit too big and solid to be free-floating. Maybe that poster is hinting that the BoE might control the monetary and fiscal policy but who knows who controls the BoE, eh? (nods knowingly).

I had to have a funeral for my sons tamagochi when it died 😁😁

I'm pretty sure I could bond with something that was just cleverly programmed to respond to me- but I can see I'm in the minority. Maybe the queue for my idog will be short!

Imagine being able to put it on pause for a bit while you were cooking! 😂

@2reefsin30knots it's an interesting thought.

I think often of Tom Hanks in Castaway and his emotional attachment to "Wilson" (the ball). That was heart wrenching and I guess it speaks to people forming attachments to whoever (and whatever) is available to them.

So I suppose in that regard I can understand the idog.

But in general it just seems very unnatural and pointless to me, and a slippery slope to everybody just creating their own insular, virtual worlds...and then really, what is the point of anything?

Humans have the capacity to bond with anything. We become attached to books ( a dog eared much loved copy of your favourite book handed down from granny / people who feel lindlenos too "cold" and not the same) certain spatulas, we have favourite appliances and have the capacity to "feel sorry for" objects- see the people who choose the battered box because no one else will want it etc. We see happy and sad faces in sockets and on cars- some people put eyelashes on cars. We can find love, emotion and empathy for drawings- just paint on canvas can stir emotion in us. I have no doubt in my mind that an ai dog programmed to respond to us, to display emotive behaviours and made to "love" us, would be received very very well by many.

Well this thread went in an unexpected direction! 😂

Some of the posts on here really remind me of some of the horrible peak-Covid stuff: "your life is going to be destroyed and changed forever, all the things you love gone, all the joy stripped out and replaced by functional rubbish, you're just too naive to realise yet but I KNOW and it WILL HAPPEN".

I don't know what motivates people to do this, but it's pretty disturbing and horrible.

Me neither.

More viruses will come along. That’s the nature of biology. A very minor example, dengue fever is making its presence known in Europe because of the increasing number of tiger mosquitos. But more likely to be newer viruses too. Massive over-population. Drought and lack of food resources. Environmental issues and damage. Wars.

I also think because of the political chaos caused by one or a combination of the above there will be more autocratic governments around the world. Western type democracy will be a luxury no one will be able to afford. I’ve definitely thought that for a while. And I don’t believe in conspiracy theories, I just see it as a natural development.

Talking of conspiracy theories, is this obsession with A1 a form of the same?

AI will cure climate change, will find a way to decarbonise the air.

Here's hoping, although I thought that a lot of climate change is already baked in ? Is AI going to be reliable if climate change really kicks in, a lot of the infrastructure it will rely on isn't ready for it ?

I would go for food poverty, housing poverty and war.

Well, that's already reality.

its about having everything you need within a 15 minute walk or cycle from home.

I have it. And love it. As well as a great transport system. Cars will be obsolete except for trucks, trains and boats, and planes - which still need to transport people and goods around the world.

I think covid was a once in a life time event that people can relate to globally (in Western countries anyway), as we were all affected. Nothing else is comparable

You sound young.

My parents and grandparents went through WW 1 and WW 2.
Spanish flu after WW 1 killed 50 million people.
Thank god medical science has come on in leaps and bounds, vaccinations etc.

I have travelled extensively in Africa. Still met people affected by polio, river blindness there etc. That was just 20 - 30 years ago.

I'm really scared by AI.

Not in a 'it's going to wipe out humanity' point of view (although never say never) but from it replacing jobs point of view.

My anxiety has been bad last few months due to other factors, and I'm just really scared by it.

I don't feel young 😅
I meant more a lifetime for us, my parents are in their 80s so this was a once for them, I know of the Spaniah flu but not someone who has loved through two kinds of these events. Covid was really something quite different, probably also because of the lockdown aspect. I also just think for the Western world as I think developing countries didn't have the luxury of being able to manage covid like we did, it was just another thing for them. Africa is one, India is another, they just had to do their best. I'm assuming (hoping!) Covid is the real thing I'll have to deal with, and hope and pray my child doesn't have to deal with any type or pandemic, endemic, war etc.