My Grandma went from riding a horse to town to space travel, the internet, and smart TVs.
I'd love to see that kind of expansion, but I mostly expect to see the end of Trick or Treating.
Ask HN: What are your predictions for the next 50 years?
91–99 of 99 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are your predictions for the next 50 years?
#92My predictions have a tendency to come true. Consider yourselves privileged to have received this information years in advance
Things that won't happen:
- There will NEVER be a 3rd "World War" with major countries rolling tanks across each others borders and millions dead. There will be lots of conflict though, but never a direct confrontation between major nations like u.s. china, Russia, etc
- There will also never be a nuclear attack on a live target. The worst that could ever happen would be a "test" deterrent on uninhabited land and even that is highly doubtful
- Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will not be adopted by the mainstream on a large scale such that you could use it to buy groceries, pay rent, pay for everyday expenses, etc
- But they will also not disappear. Cryptocurrencies are here to stay
- There won't be any major youth cultural movement such as punks in the 70s, skinheads, hippies, ravers, etc. Big concerts and events will slowly become smaller/fizzle out. These movements of the past were driven by the children of factory workers and working classes. Deindustrialization is causing the decline of youth culture
- Cold fusion
- "Room temperature" superconductors
- Manned Moon landing. Not in 2024, 34, or in our lifetime (sorry)
- Manned Mars landing. This one will ESPECIALLY not happen! And even if it did, nobody is going to believe it
- "Storm Area 51" or any similar such event. Wont happen
- "Aliens" won't come
- Massive decline in national sports. People will not associate themselves with any particular sports team. For similar reasons which made youth music movements disappear, people will also lose interest in soccer, basketball, etc. FIFA, NBA, UEFA and others will be riddled with scandal after scandal
- +11bn. We have only so much planet to go around. Something will give...
Things that will happen:
- Costs of living will continue to rise, driven primarily by housing costs. Both, buying and renting, will continue to go up indefinitely making not just owning a home, but even sleeping inside a building with 4 solid walls increasingly unaffordable for a large majority of the population. First in western countries such as the u.s. and Europe, but also increasingly in places such as Asia and South America and many other places in the world
- As a consequence, cities will become thinly populated by a minority who can still afford to live in them and their servants, while large number of buildings, well maintained on the outside, will deteriorate on the inside.
- Empty luxury towers will be dotting cities all over the world with automatic light switches to make them appear occupied at night
- Van living will become BIG BUSINESS!!
- Major car manufacturers will be too stupid/bureaucratic to pick up (heh) on the opportunity
- People will adopt. Having a nicely fitted van/rv will be the new "middle class"
- If you hope that there will be another "burst" of the housing bubble, good luck. Things in history never happen twice. Maybe its time to get comfortable in your tent!
- Gym memberships will continue to go up
- The US dollar/Euro will continue to rise against most other currencies for quite some time. No hyperinflation any time soon
- Continued decline in fossil fuel production
- "Digital Nomad" places such as Bali, Chiang Mai, etc will become VERY popular. Even more so than they are today
- Many new places like that will arise all around the world. The famous Nomadlist is just an indication of what's to come
- Nation states will disappear. People will be divided into two major groups: Those who can adjust to a world in with the geography of your birth will no longer carry relevance to how you conduct your life. And those who will fail to adjust to a new narrative in which nationality no longer plays a role. This second group will be the Left Behinds. Many of them will become violent against the first and amongst each other. You can already see this happening with the (futile) rise of nationalism around the world. These people can't adopt, and will be wiped out
- Record cold winters
- Extreme heat wave summers
- Collapse of food production in many parts of the world at least during some periods with all the nasty consequences
- Continued decline in birth rates. World wide
- Splintering of the "United" States of America. Numerous groups fighting to claim the title, with others fighting to reject it
- Transition of the U.S and Europe from 1st world to 3rd world
- Save havens will emerge around the world who will accept refugees from the Declining West who were smart enough to foresee these developments in advance. The future won't be bad for those who can see what's coming
I also have some more predictions about the decline of the nations state. These are rather dark and involve things such as alliances between the deep state and street gangs. "Law enforcement" becoming criminals and turning against their own population etc. But that's enough for now, you get the picture...
Re: Ask HN: What are your predictions for the next 50 years?
#93Significant dislocations of coastal population will cause shifts in demographics and voting. Some regimes will fall because of it, the UN Charter on refugees will be amended. Resentment against entrenched industry shills and oligarchy will lead to extra judicial acts of revenge. The actors behind this will not coalesce the way religious fundamentalism has, but will be understood as a common root cause much as luddism…
> Literacy will not fall, but writing will be uncommon.
I wonder if this is already a reality for some. I can't remember the last time I had to write more than my name.
Re: Ask HN: What are your predictions for the next 50 years?
#94Food gets expensive, everything else gets cheap.
No jobs. High skilled freelances paying huge amounts of money. Everyone has a bot, and bots are more popular than cars. Cars become just fun. Temporary public service grants minimal food. Almost no crime, everything is tracked. Web become VR and too deep to have a human guide, google VR guide is the most popular. Google and Facebook become gov in some territories. A wide range of variety of electronic devices in sizes and formats, weareable. And.... bots are not that smart yet, not like a money machine. But smart enough to play anything together. PRO CPU/GPUS's only in the cloud for rent.
Re: Ask HN: What are your predictions for the next 50 years?
#95 - All transport is electric and self-driving
- Most meat is made artificially or non-meat substitutes
- New world order will be USA-India-Japan-Iran Vs China-Russia-Vietnam. (Europe to stay neutral)
- Home robots doing chores
- Lots of jobs have been automated leading to change in work
- Maximum workweek hours reduced to 4-days or flexible working
- Trips to the moon as regular as satellite launches and ISS trips are today
- Underground (and undersea( road tunnels connecting most of the world
- Advances in tracking and objective measurement of *everything* (Health, happiness etc)
- World energy needs mostly run off renewable resources (wind, solar, hydro)
- Borderless travel for most people across most countries
- Spread and establishment of liberal democracy across most countries
- World population more stableRe: Ask HN: What are your predictions for the next 50 years?
#96Significant dislocations of coastal population will cause shifts in demographics and voting. Some regimes will fall because of it, the UN Charter on refugees will be amended. Resentment against entrenched industry shills and oligarchy will lead to extra judicial acts of revenge. The actors behind this will not coalesce the way religious fundamentalism has, but will be understood as a common root cause much as luddism…
> Literacy will not fall, but writing will be uncommon. I wonder if this is already a reality for some. I can't remember the last time I had to write more than my name.
Think that through one more time. :)
Re: Ask HN: What are your predictions for the next 50 years?
#97Detroit:Become Human
Re: Ask HN: What are your predictions for the next 50 years?
#98The best book I've read on this topic is Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. [1] It really got me thinking about the next 50 years now that famine, disease and war are all manageable. The next 50 years will have super human AI, billions of superfluous people and eternal life for the privileged few. [2] [1] https://www.amazon.com/Homo-Deus-Brief-History-Tomorrow-dp-0... [2] https://www.getabstract.com/en/summary/h…
The best movie on this topic is “Idiocracy,” a fantastic documentary.
Re: Ask HN: What are your predictions for the next 50 years?
#99World will get hotter, ice will melt. Sea water conversion to drinking water will become major project.
Air conditioner/purifier business will grow.
Artificial foods will give rise to new diseases. Cancers will rise.
Cars will be detachables.
More loners than ever.
Real estates will boom in VR.