1950 - 2050 A disappointment?

Firstly I hope this is posted in the right forum.

If you can remember the 50's (i cant) it was a golden decade, with many new ideas and generally not too many problems. Around that time lots of scifi books where written and many ideas evolved about what the world would be like in 50 years time. My question is 'have any of the ideas both in books or scifi shows come true or would you say that its been rather disappointing?'

And as for the next 50 years any predictions will we still be here or are we living on borrowed time. I would be interested in any ideas both from older members from the 50's/60's and from younger members with predictions for the next 4 decades.

Did orwell get it right with big brother in 1994, will soylent green be on the menu sooner or later? Think on it and pass on your thoughts.

Regards.

well as a younger member - 23 to be exact, I know one thing, George Orwell wrote a book called *1984*. As for what I think will happen in the next four decades, well thats a long story, but I will give you the jist (of what it is I think will happen as of now anyways)

The world's oil supply is going to run out, or at least become extremely expensive. This will cause massive inflation (or deflation) and ensuing depression that we have never seen before (not even the great depression). Imagine, just one part of the infrastructure that a vast majority of us have come to rely on, gone in a matter of months (what would you do if there was no running water to your house, or electricty, or gas to get around?). There will be no order, and basically there will be a civil war. I do not see this happening in the near future due to the economy failing entirely on its own, so there has to be a catalyst.

Bird Flu? Maybe, but I don't think we'll see this for a while, but it could happen.

What about a pole switch, as I recall, we are years over due for this event to occur. However, I don't know what kind of significant changes or problems this might cause, so this is a wash.

Major natural disaster? This is more likely, in my opinion. There has been a sleu of earthquake and volcanic activity as of late, which means there is a lot of subduction going on around the world. The thing is, when one plate moves, the others have to move to compensate - which is a matter of gravity, plain and simple. It makes more sense that the world would do this rapidly, like dominoes, instead of over time because I don't think we really see mountains growing at a very rapid rate. Did anyone hear about the soviet machine that could trigger earthquakes (that the US is apparently in possesion of)?

Anyhow, earthquakes killing thousands, tsunamis, God forbid a worse hurricane season next year and maybe the years after that, and perhaps even large volcanic eruptions, might lead countries into conservative mode - which sucks for the US. If that were to occur, I see panic strike the developed nations and wars breaking out - is nuclear war that much of a stretch?

Its hard for me to be optimistic about the future, even though I am just graduating college. There is just too much pointing in the direction of disaster to ignore, and I really hope that it doesnt happen and my intuitions are wrong. I simply can just sense, see everywhere, the impending doom of a lot of us. Not ever in the history of the human race has there been such a massive change in the way we live, communicate, and travel over a hundred years - now think about the changes that have occurred in the last 30, how about the last 10....

Well I am off to quit procrastinating and studying psycholingistics, a lot of good it will probably do me, but in case apocalypse doesn't happen, I guess I should have something to fall back on.

Anyone know of any positive predications for the now and then.

Is Elvis due back from the aliens and a new chain of burger joints to open with his blessing. Sorry for the jovial approach there just after you read through ATS for a while things look gloomy. (to say the least)

I'm beginning to think the end is nigh.

I think we were in alot more danger on impending Doom during the height of the cold war. Two super powers came very close to the brink of war more then once and they had the power to literally send most of the world back to the Stone age.

That IMO was a much more scary time.

However don't you think some agency is trying to get us back to that point.

Its as if we are looking for the next big crisis. I don't think the world believes in a chill out time. Nor do i believe we will ever stop warring with each other.

The thing i keep going back to is the Reagan speech, when he said (roughly) what a different place this would be if we had to fight a threat from off planet. If you remember that one it is to me the one true prophetic statement of the second half of the century. I am still hoping Oppenheimer's statement does not ring true for the first half.

Originally posted by Munro_DreadGod
The thing i keep going back to is the Reagan speech, when he said (roughly) what a different place this would be if we had to fight a threat from off planet.

Thats a very famous speech in these circles. I think years later Gorbachev even claimed Reagan asked him if the world was ever under threat from Aliens would the USSR back the US.

I also believe that every prime minister of the UK has been invited to a top secret briefing by the US president since WWII and the info he gets from it, is the main reason why the UK will always back america regardless. All the pieces of the jigsaw never seem to come together though do they. We wait and see, maybe one day.

One of my concerns is over the way we will control the different uses of our rapidly growing technologies. IMHO our ultimate demise is at least as likely to come at our own hand as it is the result of some catastrophic natural event.

As technology advances, more and more power is placed into the hands of the average joe. It’s a double-edged sword; unfortunately, the fruits of scientific discovery can often be used for evil purposes, as well as for good. It’s only a matter of time, IMO, before either a) someone, or some group, with ill intent abuses technology to bring about a catastrophic result (any number of doomsday scenarios come to mind), or b) a well-intentioned venture results in an out-of-control situation to the detriment of humanity (a germ in a lab escapes, for example, and reproduces/spreads uncontrollably).

I’m just not sure our learned wisdom will keep pace with our technological growth. It’s a shame. If technology is used wisely, for the betterment of humanity, our world could become a magical place to live. If not, though, it could become burning Hell …

Hi. I am 27. Here are my thoughts for the future.

Things will get much worse before they get any better.

What to expect? I do think weather and natural disasters will play a huge part in what is to come. Do I see California sinking into the sea? No. But a massive earthquake is long overdue. Severe storms and severe flooding will continue to escalate as the ice caps melt and warmer ocean currents affect the enviroment. For northern countries (including Canada, Russia, Scandanavia) I see some really bizarre winter weather unflolding, followed with blackouts during sub zero temperatures which will severely impact these countries, because rescue efforts will be hindered and energy will be in short supply. Hurricanes and Typhoons will continue to batter coastlines with unprecedented force.

Now for the Iraq saga. This war will escalate, but for that to happen, the US will need to go through another major terrorist attack (which most agree is inevitable). It will be large scale, probably not nuclear, but will be a well thought out and deadly strike. This will create new fronts for the war on terror and there will be an invasion into Iran or Syria, or both. To do this the US will introduce a draft. This will galvanize all the major super powers on the planet and there will be incredible cold war reminscient anxiety. There will be many silent alliances against the US that will eventually become obvious.

Energy wise, expect shortages and blackouts more frequently. Not just because these companies are hosing us, but because supply levels will begin to bottom out. Poorer neighbourhoods will be far more impacted and this in itself could lead to rioting and mayhem in some urban communities. This I agree will force energy prices up and thus eerything else will follow. More families and individuals will slide below the poverty line.

Technology will continue it's rapid pace but the focus will begin to shift at first slowly, then dramatically to enviromentally and energy conserving friendly products to the like we have never seen before.

I think if we can get through all the crap, and wake up, the above (fictional yet possible scenarios) will bring many people into a greater awareness. But the funny thing with the "masses" is, they don't care about anything outside their bubbles until they becone directly affected. So I think we are in for a bad ride, not that we are doomed, or the end of the world is nigh... but out of 6 billion people on the planet only a few million cann clearly see the path we are headed down (hundreds of them on this board alone :cool. People need a wake up call and the future will certainly bring it.

[edit on 15-11-2005 by robinm]

[edit on 15-11-2005 by robinm]

[edit on 15-11-2005 by robinm]

The problem is, after the second big one (ww2 i mean) especially usa and su disallowed any public research, and even now especially the US will not allow anyone to research or develop anything controversial.

They will destroy your lab, threaten you, make you work for them, ect.

There's a tonn of stuff always being made, problem is all the bestest scientists work for the governments in secret

There is an interesting movie coming out called syriana. With Geroge Clooney and Matt Damon. About how the CIA is stealing oil and such.

I'd have to disagree about the "Cold War" period being more dangerous than now.
Being born in 1950 I grew up in that period and although here in the UK we didn't have the (hide under the schooldesk) type of A-bomb drills Bob Dylan mentions in Chronicles and therefore less of the paranoia. We were well aware that we could destroy the planet with nuclear weapons, although after the Cuban missile crisis in the 60's I think most people realised that it was futile to start a war which couldn't be won and we settled into the years of detente until the demise of the USSR.

The world of today is much more dangerous in my opinion as the hawks in the White House (and their allies) are more interested in consolidating US Imperialism than facing up to the real threats facing the planet.

We live in a time of great unrest and insecurity all over the world. Politicians in the West using the the threat of terrorism to implement laws which eat away at our own civil liberties and freedom.

Billions of people in the underdeveloped world who before the invention of the "Global Village" and the Internet etc had no idea of the riches and lifestyle of the so called Civilised Nations as they were too busy surviving. Now they see those things on TV,PC and Cinema and want some of it too and so we have this huge influx of "economic"refugees.

In the west we are told to accept lower wages and worse working conditions or our jobs will go China/korea, which causes more bad feeling.

The worst aspect of this though is that this culture of greed has led to a very lawless world in which it is only a matter of time before one of these fundamental muslim terrorist groups get a nuclear weapon and will absolutely and certainly use it against the west.

We saw the riots last week in France caused by the failure of Muslims to integrate into non-islamic societies, and this is not just a problem confined to France but to all of the non-muslim countries.

Sooner or later Al' Queda will succeed with a major atrocity, either a nuclear weapon or a dirty bomb in one of our major cities and the backlash from this will be terrible and most probably result in civil war over the whole world when people take the law into there own hands in revenge. This of course is what the terrorists want as in their madness they believe that they are the ones who Allah has chosen and that he wiil reward them with a place in heaven at his side.

In a way we will probably get what we deserve as instead of using the knowledge and resources at our disposal to make the world a paradise to all. We have squandered it and given it all away to the megalomaniacs and greed merchants who will never have enough no matter how rich and powerful they are.

The saddest thing though is that the survivors will blame us all for letting our own personal greed let them get away with it.

I have to agree with a lot of points in this thread.. that things are strangely dismal and that the weather and/or natural disasters are going to have a lot to do with the destruction of our race, not that I'm sure it's all that tragic.

Being in my 20s, I can't remember the cold war or the 50s or anything like that, but recent events have sparked my curiosity- I've been asking my parents and grandparents what they think of the current world situation compared to the past. They comment that things are different- that they don't ever remember so many disasters, etc, but what really seems different to them is the weather.

My family is based in Chicago, where is hardly snows anymore- I've noticed this change even since I was a child- there used to be huge snow storms a few times a winter, now we barely get one- it's warmer too. I live in L.A., where we have years worth of rain in a month now- does anyone else feel a sense of apocalypse when they watch the news now? I never used to believe in these things, but the way things are going, i keep thinking this might be the beginning of something much larger and scarier for humanity.

Could this be the beginning of something? I know the Mayans, who are disturbingly right-on in their calendar and prophecies thought the world was going to end in 2012-- could the disasters of 2005 be the beginning of a 7 year apocalpyse? I know it's crazy, but I can't take these disasters for coincidence anymore. What do you all think?

We are kept in a perpetual state of paranoia. Its just one method of keeping us under control. They control what happens in the news, to control our emotions and reactions to it. There is an impending sense of doom because they want us to think there is one. If there was more positive news being reported - and there IS positive stuff happening - this sense of doom would lessen.

Think about who will benefit. If we think the world system is about to end, we are less likely to save money, and spend more, whether it be on survival stuff or simply to enjoy life while we can. Spending more means that the businesses and governments get richer. Also, we will get poorer due to having less savings.

It also keeps us docile, it gets drug companies richer as more people go to the doctors wiht depression and paranoia, so get put on antidepressants.

I dont think anything big will happen. If anything did happen it would not be all-out nuclear war. All the stuff happening is exaggerated, news is more of an entertainment than an information medium now. Forget movies, do it in real life!

As for the weather, I am only 26 but I remember when I was 5-6 there were extremely cold winters, even 10 years ago I remember snow being piled on the pavement for weeks after it fell. But now? We are lucky to get snow fall let alone settle. But, this is natural. Its a natural cycle the Earth goes through, from hot ages to ice ages. We are towards the hot age now and eventually we will return to an ice age. As things heat up they get more volatile! Boil your kettle and you will see! The governments are misapplying global warming in full knowledge its not for their own greedy agenda.

Isaac Asimov's I Robot predicted factory workers being replaced by robots in the early 21st century. We actually beat him to it. Most factory type jobs were replaced by robots well into the 90s.

Originally posted by bluesjunior
The world of today is much more dangerous in my opinion as the hawks in the White House (and their allies) are more interested in consolidating US Imperialism than facing up to the real threats facing the planet.

It's funny how one can blow every bit of his credibility in one sentence. I would agree that we are in more danger now than during the cold war. During the cold war, we were facing down a nation that had only one thing in its war-faring favor: nuclear weapons. In every other area, the USSR was woefully unprepared for war and what is worse, all they had to do was look at Vietnam to see the conventional firepower we could bring to bear.

Now the enemy is more insidious and without the common sense of the Soviets. We may never actually defeat them, as GW Bush has pointed out. There are too many and they are too widely dispersed and do not fit any symmetrical threat profile. They are opportunists who will wait for decades, if necessary, to take the free world down like so many hyenas taking out an infirm wildebeest.

Thank God for those in Congress and the White House with the backbone to recognize the current threat and to face it down with resolve, not for the sake of Imperialism, which by the way, is actually something that Britain holds the world title for, but for the cause of worldwide freedom.


[edit on 2005/11/19 by GradyPhilpott]

Well, as I happen to be a youger member (17), I was only around for the last year or so, of the end of the cold war, I'm considering the Cold War ending when the Soviet Union went kaput, So I'll say what I think will happen between now and 2050.



Nano-technology will start to take off more, providing new interesting uses for itself.

Robots will become more a part of normal society, with them helping with shopping, cleaning your home/business and what not.

Alternative fuel sources will become even more popular, such energy sources being, solar, hydrogen and possibly superconductor batteries.

MegaCorporations will start to form, eventually with only 20 companies actually existing as seperate entities.

Either a woman, a non caucasian, a gay person or any mix of the above will become president, possibly Oprah.

Enviromental protection will become more important to people.

Cybernetics and implants will start to become available.

The human life span will be extended.

A possible time period in which socialist values become popular.

People will stop discriminating against people because of there gender, ethnicality, skin color, nationality, and sexual preference, and start discriminating against another newer group.

Colonisation of the moon will occur, orbital habitats, and eventually orbital cities will spring up in orbit.

Civillian space travel will flourish.

A newage belief wil become popular for a certain amount of time.

The E.U. will try to become one big countrie thing.

Genetic engineering in Europe will advance.

Fusion reactors will be developed, for planetary power use, and as power plants for inter-system transportation (Transportation throughout the solar system).

Colonies will start off world, claiming sovereighty wherever they are, be it on Mars or on/in an asteroid.

Cloning will become legalised to an extent, to allow the cloning of a new body if a persons body is damaged beyond repair.

Neural transfer technology will come into being (being able to transfer ones memories and mind into a computer.

Quantum computers will advance, eventually becoming common place.



I could go on, but I figure that's enough, I purposefully left out the more negative things that are likely to happen.

It's funny how one can blow every bit of his credibility in one sentence

I doubt very much your avatar would agree with you there Grady Philpot.

Originally posted by iori_komei
Well, as I happen to be a youger member (17), I was only around for the last year or so, of the end of the cold war, I'm considering the Cold War ending when the Soviet Union went kaput, So I'll say what I think will happen between now and 2050................

When I first clicked on this thread, the above quoted was what I was expecting to see. I agree with a large part of iori's post, in so far as technology jumping ahead in robotics and nanotech, a female, or black, or both president ( I think an openly gay president is further in the future) and hopefully an environmental thinking turnaround, with the first benefit being mass produced alternative fuel sources.

Well if she keeps the public happy with new cars if they vote for her shes a shoe in. Some good points here, my 'field of interest' is computing and would like to say that the first human/computer Artificial Intelligence may come into existence in the next 30 years. A free thinking computer able to express itself without being pre programmed to do so. That should make a dent in some technical problems and as long as they dont hook it up to all the WMD on the planet we wont need to worry about it ging mad and killing us all. LOL