The future - 2040 will it change?

[Morbid Side]

With all this talk of what it will be like in the future I challenge that 35 years is basically tomorrow in my eyes. I don't think that many things will change. If we are lucky one or two things might change radically but the rest will be kept the same, but for the most part life in 2040 will not be so different from life in 2005. Life in 2005 is still pretty much the same as life in 1970, after all, despite the panoply of gadgets introduced since then. Any change likely to reach "critical mass" between now and then is almost certainly already in motion for us to discover. It takes the mininum of 3 to 4 generations, roughly for any technological innovations to change society. The first has to develop it; the second generation makes it ubiquitous; and the third generation, having grown up with it, takes it for granted and runs off in a direction their parents never expected. Depending on how disruptive the technology is, it may be another generation still during which the children of today can grow up and take control of society tomorrow. One has to wonder about global warming will it take over and will our lives at be at stake. There might be some back up with some hi tech robots built and ready for combat after some nasty natural disaster. Damn there is so much to think about.. :erm :fear :confused

[Onyx]

I disagree. (However, I am a gothasaurus and can still remember what a living hell the 70s actually were)!

The internet has radically changed my life.

Cell phones have radically changed my life.

I would not have the freedom to work from a home office like I do. I love that. My life has been greatly enriched by the net. I love technology - on-demand movies, the freedom to travel without worry that my cell phone gives me. I doubt I'd be on the road as much on weekends without the ability to call for help should my car break down.

In the 70s I was in pain almost ALL the time from severe chronic debilitating migraines. Now I am hardly ever in pain. Also thanks to newer meds I don't have to suffer for days at a time. I can usually kill a migraine attack if I catch it soon enough.

I believe DNA mapping will unlock the code to many, many diseases.

... if suicide bombers don't somehow trigger a nuclear war that is.

[Fierce Critter]

Hm.

I do think the "energy crisis ball" is rolling enough to be a major concern by that time.

I can't guess where it's going to go. But I think it's going to cause major problems by that time, in some way. Gas prices for one.

[Morbid Side]

I'm merely stating that I think it won't change that much. But who am I to say theres no telling what the future has in store for us it may be a bit more complex than we could ever have imagined it to be, but it still materialist.

[Msterbeau]

Well.... from one point of view, I can understand where you're coming from. Remember all the flying car fantasies and futurism in the fifties? That stuff was predicted to have come by now, and it hasn't. But as Onyx points out.. the internet and other technologies HAVE made huge differences for many. I also agree that genetics and energy will cause huge changes in the time frame you mention MS.

[Steven]

I completely disagree (and also sadly remember growing up in the 70s)

1st - we have the total reclasssification of the family unit and the ensuing confusion that inevitably follows.

2nd - we have a much wider access to information in general - which further exascerbates the calssification of society - and you hear this type of language in school age children now.

3rd - we have (by a large degree) the socially acceptable pharmecutical drugging of society - but in particular - the youth of America as it paves the way for the future. We need help to maintain, we need help to deal, we need help to sleep. We've bred a mindset of dependency as a social norm, - far exceeding the escapism of the Alcohol and Cocaine in the 70's.

4th - our youth shows a greater detatchment and penchant for extreme violence than ever before. Especially as is directed against other family members and social peers.

5th - we officially classify more various degrees of mental imbalances (Bi-Polar, Co-Dependent, Malignant Depression, Social Anxiety) than ever before - and not because the wheel was re-invented, but because the number of cases became overwhelming and thus demanding an acknowledgement of a social trend. Then we made it as normal as Tuesday.

6th - our children cant read, write, or multiply but get passed through the system in greater numbers than never before.

7th - we have more fatherless childen and divorce than ever before.

I'd go on but my fingers are cramping.

I dont beelive the author of this post really beleives what he posted, but simply wanted to get some good meaty discusion going.

Steven

[Jarodaka]

4th - our youth shows a greater detatchment and penchant for extreme violence than ever before.  Especially as is directed against other family members and social peers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Really? (I'm honestly asking, I do not know.) I thought crime was down, in general, since Roe v. Wade?

[Msterbeau]

Really?  (I'm honestly asking, I do not know.)  I thought crime was down, in general, since Roe v. Wade?

Something I've read more then once: Actual figures for crimes and other activities seem "on the rise" but in fact are falling. The discrepency is that we hear about them more because of all the types of media available to us.

[Steven]

Something I've read more then once: Actual figures for crimes and other activities seem "on the rise" but in fact are falling.  The discrepency is that we hear about them more because of all the types of media available to us.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes I've heard this statistic before, that crime is on the decline.

And even though I dont buy it - I'm not talking about general crime here - I'm talking about the trends in youth violence over the last 15 years, amongst other things.

[Steven]

Something I've read more then once: Actual figures for crimes and other activities seem "on the rise" but in fact are falling.  The discrepency is that we hear about them more because of all the types of media available to us.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I dont really buy into this theory either.

were jumping from the 70's to modern times.

Yes technology has increased the ability to access information and raise awareness. But it also has the ability to steer public opinion.

And crime in and of itself is just one symptom of change. For example I talked about the pharmecutical identity of the youth of America. Thats a trend that cannot be ignroed - as it shapes our values and ideals on what we condone and or consider as normal and appropriate on a wide scale.

I also personally beleive (no data in hand) that as we increase our chemical dependencies in order to self regulate and cope - then we likewise increase the "potential" volitility of the common man when the bubble breaks.

remember - the topic of discussion here is that "not much has changed"....

and I disagree.