In the past few decades, humankind has accelerated beyond what most of our ancestors would be willing to accept as possible. The digital age is well and truly upon us, in all of its exciting and terrifying glory.
10. Marriage Replaced by Contract
So they reckon, as time goes on and medicine gets better and our lives inevitably become longer- new alternatives to the traditional ‘till death do us part’ marriage will appear. Marriage contracts lasting only a decade or two (or three, four, five….) may become available for future generations as a result of their expected longer lives. Old school will still be an option however, at least I’d imagine so.
9. Deserts will become Tropical Forests
There are already some parts of the world’s deserts which are becoming increasingly overtaken by vegetation. This process is known as ‘Desert Greening’ and some say the eventual results of this will be a complete transformation from sand dune to dense jungle. If this does happen however, it will most likely take hundreds if not thousands of years- so don’t get too excited.
8. Succession of States from the Union
We all know how this ended last time, so let’s hope if this prediction does occur it’ll be in be better spirit than 1861. There have already been some indications that California wish to lead this break-up of the US- and inherent doubts and pressures of this kind can do nothing but grow generation to generation. Some say we can expect this by the end of the current decade- citing differences in wealth generation between states as the main catalyst. Basically, the rich don’t want to have to fund the poor thousands of miles away in what are theoretically foreign municipalities.
7. Most of the World Will Embrace Gay Marriage
This one is mostly in reference to the Western World, a lot of which does support gay people and their right to marry currently. In coming years however, the options available for legal union may increase to those all over the globe. Unfortunately, it could be centuries until homosexuality becomes acceptable absolutely everywhere, mostly due to religion- yes, that old chestnut. Many religions and belief systems, particularly (though not exclusively) those whose roots lie in the East- still regard homosexuality as inherently wrong- making this prediction far from certain.
6. Everyone Will Speak either English, Spanish or Mandarin
This already seems like quite a drastic change considering the amount of languages spoken on our planet (250 differing tongues are uttered daily by the residents of London alone, for example), however what if I was to tell you that many experts believe this prediction to be extremely likely AND possible by the end of the 21st century. Languages are dying daily, with English, Spanish and Mandarin already the most widely spoken- they are set to fundamentally absorb the others.
5. Nuclear Fusion will be mastered
This is almost a certainty; experts predict we will have mastery over this potentially endless resource for power and energy by midway through the current century. Although I find it extremely hard to grasp most (by most I mean pretty much all) scientific concepts, from what I can gather Nuclear Fusion will project humankind onto the next level of our existence. With a population that is rapidly growing, the Earth is in dire need of a renewable energy source which can be depended upon in the long term.
4. Brains Wired to Computers
This concept terrifies me more than it does amaze me, even more so due to the fact that experts claim such ‘machine augmentation’ could be readily available to those in the developed world by 2050. In principle, this technology will allow us to both amplify and customise our intelligence and brain power to suit specific needs or desires. As good as this does sound, the precise thought of having a brain/body controlled by a computer is, to me at least, a very heavy one. Not to sound like an Orwell obsessed nut job- but computers wired to your brain? Not for me.
3. Single Worldwide Currency
This prediction seems to be dividing economic experts straight down the middle, on the one hand – the increasing digitization of well, absolutely everything, leads many to believe that one neutral digital format of currency will rise to prominence over the coming decades. On the other side of the argument however, it is claimed that the digital age is enabling the introduction of new forms of bartering and independent exchange rates- in turn encouraging division and producing more, not less currencies in the long term.
2. Control of the Weather
This is already a reality in basic form, with the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Programme (HAARP) launching in 1993- the intent of which is to test possibilities into the manipulation of weather conditions and the like. The technology has been used from its base in Gakona, Alaska on occasion to mediate tornadoes etc- and as knowledge of its capabilities grows, so will its part in the prevention of detrimental weather conditions. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that weather control, once more roundly mastered of course, will be used to make it perfect beach weather every day all summer long- instead it is likely to be focused on the prevention of large scale natural disasters.
1. Extensive Ocean Farming
Despite having absolutely pillaged our planets seas for the better part of a millennium, humankind is set to carry this tradition on far into the future. With an ever expanding population which is set to reach 10 billion by 2100, it is important we have the resources to feed such a staggering amount of people. As well as delicious fish, it seems we shall also farm algae in our seas- in order to capitalize on its apparent superpowers as a renewable energy source.