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.

Before climate change, AI or dengue fever wipes us out, we’ve got to go through one major thing together.

The Christmas 2023 woke John Lewis advert that none of us will understand.

I think there will be another pandemic soon.. it is the age of viruses, we have lost respect for nature and keep intruding.
I also think that sea level rises will displace many millions of people.

Don't be scared. AI can be a tool when used effectively. It will change jobs of course but does not have the capacity to be creative innovative or inventive.

Every new technology ever has made people fear about job losses - yes, jobs change; more are created.

if I had my time again I wouldn’t have children knowing the future they face

People have expressed that sentiment for many generations.

The truth is there are big challenges for the furry generations - but there always were.

As a child in the 80s I worried massively about nuclear war & Russia / US politics - it was a very real thread in the time of a closed off Communist & Eastern bloc.

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

This makes no sense!

AI isn't an 'it'. Like one ominous presence. It's a concept, a technology.

People who don't/can't own a dog because of their circumstances, may just get an "iDog" because they don't have to walk it, clean it, feed it, pay vet bills, kennel fees, vaccinations, don't need to worry about what their landlord would say.

Re ‘vet’s bills’, when the iDog breaks down then there will be vets bills but the ‘vet’ will be an AI technician.

"If your job involves any sort of admin processes, you'll be unemployed by 2030.

All legal, medical diagnosis, financial auditing, planning, design, administration, buying, selling, all those jobs will dissappear in the next five to ten years. That's the scale of what's coming."

Really? So anyone who works in any sort of admin will not have a job in 7 years? School/doctors/dentists reception staff gone? Prisons and hospitals, all admin staff gone? Call centres, post offices, warehousing, solicitors, accountants, financial advisors, estate agents, 999 call handlers. All of them gone?

People will still desire and need human contact, community. Just because some things can be replaced doesn't mean that's desired

I don’t understand ‘there’s only so many times you can tax the rich’. They’re not dragons sitting on a finite pile of gold. They use their money to make more and more money year after year. The wealth of the wealthiest is growing and growing. Also tax (unless a specific one off) is an inherently an ongoing thing.

The next big thing will be another pandemic and we’ll all be mightily pissed off that we haven’t learned more lessons as a society from the first one. The response will be a bit better but no where near as good as it should be. Systems will break down where government hasn’t invested ahead of the next one.