What will the world look like, sound like, in 2015? (rental, credit)

[robbi]

Interesting thread so far!
Well, 2015 is only 7 yrs away - and I'm still not very good at Global Forecasting, going forward...
Oh Well..
I believe 2 issues may well be dominant.
Energy. A Perspective. I recently asked a very senior Oil man to describe the global situation. He replied thus. 'Well, imagine a lake of oil at the time we began using it as an energy source back at the end of the 19th century. We have now consumed 50% of known supplies. Problem is we consumed 10% of that in the last decade!. Second we have emerging Superpowers with new and voracious energy demands - so we will consume even more oil, even faster. The remaining oil will also gradually become' Bad Oil' - that which is a lot harder and much more expensive to extract. Finally, we might not like where the remaining energy is located'.
EG Russia has a huge percentage of the remaining stock and is a huge supplier. We dont forget in Europe, when Russia got upset and lent on the tap valve last year - the lights went out in Europe, for real. We should also not forget energy is used to pump water! Arizona EG. We will bicker and fight over - remaining and dwindling - energy stocks for sure.
However, I feel relatively sanguine about energy in general. There is so much 'slack' in the developed worlds methods of consuming the stuff that we can actually make a real difference without altering our lifestyle too much - just by altering the way we go about things. Technology will also come to the rescue; to a certain extent anyway.
Global Warming. We all may have an opinion on this one. Whatever direction its going in, it will be sharply in focus by the year 2015.
One man, however, Professor James Lovelock; Ex of NASA, does know more than almost anyone alive. He postulated, discovered, and described what he called GAIA theory - the means and mechanisms by which the planet actively self regulates itself, quite independantly, to maintain the environment inside the very tight boundary lines where life can be supported. Without banging a great gong about it, his view is we have probably already reached the point at which self regulation may not work and that governments should be planning now for a period of unavoidable 'readjustment'. That means weather, agriculture, that means food, water and production. For some continents it will also mean a significant 'readjustment' of population and even boundaries as resources and the environment become less able to sustain a sovereign society. Warming is not only about environment its resources; basic resources - and that going to make it political.
The question was about the future, not about armageddon. I am an optimist and a believer in the resilience and creativity of humankind and above all else our greatest characteristic - the ability to adapt. We will. We have to - the landscape is probably about to change. In terms of environment, resources, world community, technology I honestly believe we are entering an entirely new era of quite new mechanisms, shapes and even vocabulary. But it will be Our World.

Oh, and the Dolphins will win Superbowl. Statement of fact, Gentlemen!

[MimzyMusic]

This is part prediction, part wish, part design.



In the early '10s, all the world governments will collapse. Yes, I mean in the NEXT FEW YEARS. The governments will go bankrupt, they will be such a joke they will eventually just stop congregating.

The world will fracture into small regionalities and city-states, which will follow a written moral code that will be posted on the Internet for every society to follow. It will be a quite simple code similar to the American Constitution, and all the great minds of the modern age will approve of it.

People will awaken to many things. For one, that no government in history has ever been for the good of the people. Two, it will be clear we have been visited by extraterrestrials. Three, because of this, our minute human differences will be forgotten about and we will realize we are far more similar than different, once we see how different (and wonderful) these alien beings are.

Global warming will unfortunately cause a decrease in biodiversity, but other than that it will not be quite as bad as expected. The contraction of the economy will actually save us from becoming a global hothouse, as China and India won't fully industrialize until Green Energy is widely available.

Urban agriculture will take off; this will allow the city-states complete economic dependence and protection from famine, and will also leave room for much of the current farmland to be reclaimed by nature.

Cities will be more tightly built and people will leave the outer suburbs once they see them for the wastelands they are. These bedroom communities will decay and gradually become replaced by rings of forest.

The Bering Strait Tunnel will be completed, and there will be a world-wide network of speed rail transportation linking the entire planet - the physical counterpart to the Internet. Transport will be free or at least cheap.

We will no longer pollute the EM spectrum of the planet with radio broadcasts - all broadcasts will be done through the Internet, via short-range transmissions across the Grid. This will give the birds and whales a break.

The biotechnology we developed to create diseases and make Frankenfoods with will be put to good use - growing the forests and natural wildlands back in huge eco-construction projects. Quickly.

Nanotechnology will take off, making today's technology look as clunky and primitive as 19th century technology does to us. It will be used for everything from microsurgery to cleaning the ocean to making "buckypaper" that will be plastered on walls and newspapers that will automatically update themselves.

In 2050, we will not use the computer we know of today - that mix of a typewriter, phone and TV. Our house will be our computer - and we will display information on our walls, controlled by our hands and voices.

Cell phones will still be used, though they will automatically recharge and people will get over the "texting" craze.

Poverty will be non-existent, because enough food, water and wealth will be produced in the cities for everyone to get a share. Education and health care will be universal rights.

As a result, war will no longer exist, and crime will be rare, with the few criminals stopped before they can do great harm and given the treatment they need.

People will start to live very long lives. 150, 200, 500, even thousands of years. It's already happening - the 60 year old of 2009 does not seem nearly as old as the 60 year old of 1989!

The population will not escalate because of this because some people will willingly lay down their lives because immortality does not appeal to them, and also because most people will live in cities and the quality of life will improve, so birth rates will drop, though children will be more precious.

Religion will not die out, but its more dogmatic strains will lose most of their followers, and it will become a personal matter for the most part. The acceptance of alien beings on Earth will not end religion, but it will humble people and soften the human-centered aspects of certain faiths.

The Moon will have cities and colonies built on it, with shuttles regularly coming in from Earth.

Starting sometime in the mid 21st century, the terraforming of Mars will begin - this project, being so massive, will take until at the very least, 2150 to complete. About two billion people will migrate and populate the surface of Mars and build new countries and start new cultures.

Popular culture will be completely different. Big name music stars like Michael Jackson (RIP) and Britney Spears will not be as common. In place, you will have regional celebrities and people will listen to music from nearby cities or their own city, older music and the occasional act from a faraway city they hear about on the Internet.

Music downloading will be legalized, however people will be willing to pay money as a token of appreciation to artists and groups they like, and live music will also become more popular.

Movies will also be similar. They will spread the same way Internet memes do, because the Internet will be THE place where popular culture is distributed.

Television will be distributed through the Internet and forget a big-screen TV - your wall will be the TV screen.

All the satellites currently in space will stop working. The Moon, our natural satellite, will be the center of human space exploration, and there will be a joint ET presence there.

Airplanes will be a rarity, as all the major airlines will go out of business in the 2010s.

Relations between the sexes will be harmonious. Nobody will think anything of a working mom or a stay at home dad, though they will always be the exception to the rule.

People will work far less. In fact, many people will only work one season of the year, and spend the rest of the time doing fun things with their family and friends. This will be possible because many positions, such as cashier, will be automated.

There will be no war, because everyone will have everything they need, and each community will be totally self-sufficient.

There will be a revival of Romanticism. The present-day vision of a future of cold metal and heartless robots will seem laughably inaccurate in the late 21st century - the new nanotechnology will be so graceful it will resemble fairy-tale magic. It will literally be pixie dust.

Cities will be rebuilt in sparkling crystal. Concrete streets will be taken out, and in their place will be cobblestone and jewels.

People will become more in touch with their telepathy and other ESP powers. Forget Russian parkour and even jetpacks - how about using your psychic powers to fly, like a flippin power ranger?

The future will be a magical, peaceful, wonderful world.

[kshe95girl]

whatever drug you are on, I want some..... cuz that is sooooooo not gonna happen!

[Jaggy001]

My prediction ............

The world will continue to be round. Most of it will be covered with water. There will be number of land masses known as continents. People will live on the continents. Most of them will be poor and there will be the occasional conflict between some of them.

[eskercurve]

By 2015 ...

Scientifically, we will be moving ever more closer to using stem-cell related treatments for major surgeries and treatment of chronic illnesses. We will also be able to peer ever deeper and closer into the cosmos. The USA will have finally finished the next generation manned space capsule which will eventually be used to return to the moon. However, the International Space Station will not need to use them - private industries from Scaled Composites and Xspace will supply the ISS, along with Russian capsules. The Higgs Boson will have been discovered and miniature black holes will have been created by the LHC, giving scientists insights into the possibility for Einstein - Rosen bridges to be shortcuts through space.

The USA and Europe will have had a couple years growth only to be replaced by double digit inflation and slowing population growth, respectively. Europe will sag later though, due to social strife caused by rising numbers of immigrants, especially Muslims, and a falling white population. Governments will enact sweeping and radical changes to promote white children to be born. Russia will continue to rise in power due to natural resources and China will start to consume ever more resources to fuel its double-digit growth. China will also start enacting more liberalizing policies to promote domestic consumer spending as the value of US Treasuries had fallen due to inflation. China will also flex their military muscle in the region which, historically, they lay claim to many areas of southeast Asia. India will have continued expanding their economy and will have announced plans for a space station in cooperation with Russia and China.

There is less conflict in the world as Afghanistan has stabilized. There are growing rumors of Al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorist organizations brewing in Africa.

Brazil will have emerged as a major resource, and an eager second buyer of American treasuries so that they can export more to the USA and fund the debt.

Chicago is racing to plug a $2 billion (2009 value) funding shortcoming in their 2016 Olympic construction, and firms are threatening to stop construction due to overdue payments. The IOC is monitoring the situation very closely, meanwhile, ticket holders to major events are wondering if they will be able to see their events. A last resort is to ask neighboring college towns to loan their facilities.

American auto manufacturing will have become more splintered with Tesla and Fisker automotive producing high quality, all electric vehicles and series hybrid vehicles to compete with the major auto firms. China will have started selling cars in the USA, with most Americans who would have bought Japanese now look to Chinese firms, though rumors of unsafe construction and reliability problems persist. Ford will have surpassed the "new" GM as the #1 automaker in the USA, though, Toyota will have become the #1 selling brand in America.

[SEAandATL]

I'll tell you what it probably won't look like is "Back to the Future Part II" portrayal of the year 2015, with hover boards, flying cars, and "Jaws 19". It might have some of it, like the video phone/conferencing that we already have now, or split screen TV's. I think the robotics industry might get bigger like it is in Japan.

[actonbell]

and in space, 'the final frontier'.....

The new moon-bound manned spacecraft Orion is to be ready by 2015. Water-hunting satellite reaches moon - Summary : Space Technology

[effie g-tad]

^

now this could be the ultimate revival of romanticism, as mentioned earlier....

[effie g-tad]

Originally Posted by hello-world

Your forecast is welcome. Your local politics, environment, economy, culture, religion, entertainment... Your world's politics, environment, economy, culture, entertainment... Your universes'...

Let's hear it.

hello, hello-world:

i did some research, following an intuition.

in 2000, a blowing the whistle campaign was started that wants to halve the world's poverty by 2015.

i'm wondering, however.

[pigeonhole]

IF one believes the Global Warming (or is it Global Change ouups...Climate Change...I'm at a loss...so much smart-ass phraseology...) scaremongers, the atmosphere will be like a sauna , Bengladesh and Amsterdam will be disappearing under the floods, NYC and London would be threatened by a giant tsunami wave, but at the same time giant droughts will mean that we'll no longer have drinking water, white bears and seals will be extinct species, Africa will be completely depopulated (nothwistanding their 10 children per woman) because of AIDS, Ebola and droughts , and the ice layer of Antartica, because of the intense warming and the depletion of the ozone layer, will only be of 1999 feet instead of 1999, 1 feet.
Oh and I forgot, new UFOs will appear in Roswell.
Needless to say, a heap of crap from the doomsayers.