# What do you predict the future of mankind will be?



## fuzzybuddy (Oct 31, 2021)

People are weird. Serial killers, mad bombers, road rage, riots, etc. But there is love, liberty, the arts, science etc. You name it, people have done it. We, seniors, have been hanging around now, for most of us, about 65 years. What do you foresee about us  as nations, and  societies? Is it a rosy future, or hell on earth?


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## HoneyNut (Oct 31, 2021)

Makes me think of the Imagine song:


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## Aneeda72 (Oct 31, 2021)

The future of mankind? Shorter than the past if we don’t get herd immunity


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## Irwin (Oct 31, 2021)

It seems like we're becoming a tech-centric world where luddites will soon be living in the fringes as troglodytic outcasts. Music and many forms of art are becoming computer generated, soulless, heartless, cacophonous noise to those of us who were brought up during the '50s-'80s before computers destroyed music. Perhaps something will take the place of art. In the distant future, we might be able to just stimulate the part of the brain that was activated when we heard music we liked and we can experience pleasure without what will be extraneous visual or auditory devices.

So it might actually be a better life. It's not going to happen in our lifetime, but it is going to happen.

Along with that, scientists will be able to manufacture food in labs instead of needing crops and animals, so hunger will be eradicated. Sex will be simulated and reproduction will occur via cloning.

I think it's time for my nap.


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## Aunt Bea (Oct 31, 2021)

I predict that the lives of the haves will become much more difficult as the lives of the have-nots improve.
_
“It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.”_ - Eleanor Roosevelt


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## SmoothSeas (Oct 31, 2021)

Aneeda72 said:


> The future of mankind? Shorter than the past if we don’t get herd immunity



not only reaching herd immunity, but getting globally WOKE...

Mother Nature's only gonna tolerate so much. before seeking revenge.  and, I'm bettin' that it's not gonna be pretty...  

we all need to do our part to protect this planet...


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## Pepper (Oct 31, 2021)

The future.  I just want my grandson to be happy.  I've become so insular.


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## Don M. (Oct 31, 2021)

It's a tossup between Climate Change, and Overpopulation....as to which is going to have the biggest effect on humanity.  A few years ago, the UN said that the optimum Sustainable human population would be right around 6 billion.  We are already well beyond that, and could reach 12 billion by the end of this century.  That is going to create a huge disparity in wealth, which will lead to a major conflict between the Have's and Have Nots.  If the Have's win, we will begin to unite under a common language and government, and reach for the stars.  If the Have Nots win, we will revert back to the Dark Ages.  

And then, there is Climate Change.  I doubt that anything of substance can or will be done to reverse the current trends.  As the oceans rise, the U.S. will lose 15%, or more, of it's land mass...the Gulf and Eastern coasts will be inundated, 10's of millions will be forced to relocate, and many of the coastal cities will be uninhabitable.   

Enjoy life, now.  Those living 50 years from now will be in a different and chaotic world.


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## Tom 86 (Oct 31, 2021)

BOOM!!


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## palides2021 (Oct 31, 2021)

My prediction:
As long as technology progresses at the rate it has, we are doomed. I'm not against technology, but I don't like that it's progressing so fast in such a short time. Can we humans keep up? I remember growing up and we didn't have access to computers until the 1980s.  Cell phones weren't around. Although I like the computer and cell phone, they have become important in my life, yet these past twenty years have seen astronomical increases in technology in other areas, like cryptocurrency, electric cars, artificial intelligence and robots. We might be flying our cars one day. Or a robot will be our companion. Imagine that!! Technology, however, depends on electricity to survive. What happens to climate issues when electricity demand shooting up the roof? So I'm worried about a number of things.

Don't get me wrong, there are the pros and cons to technology. Technology has helped in diagnosing illnesses and diseases. We have information at our fingertips, etc. Technology can be manipulated and abused, and that's what I'm worried about. If hackers get into the system, they can cause havoc. If robots decide to rule the earth, bye-bye humanity. Even the airplanes that were built eventually became military planes that dropped bombs during the wars. 

My prediction is that technology, electric cars, and the AI robots will slowly take over. A warning by Elon Musk on Youtube has mentioned that we need to be careful. Another aspect for the future is that we as humans will be interfaced with technology so that we will become hybrid humans. In other words, we are slowly losing our souls. Can we live with that?


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## SmoothSeas (Oct 31, 2021)

Don M. said:


> A few years ago, the UN said that the optimum Sustainable human population would be right around 6 billion.  We are already well beyond that, and could reach 12 billion by the end of this century.
> 
> Enjoy life, now.  Those living 50 years from now will be in a different and chaotic world.



by the turn of the century, I should (hopefully) be long-gone from This Mortal Coil, but I shudder to think what it will be like then, should I come around again...


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## Pepper (Oct 31, 2021)

I'm into the idea of a Star Trek universe where it seems everyone can be themselves.  I love the gadgets, especially the Replicators and Most of All.............The Holodeck.  I don't care that the life within it isn't 'real'.  Make it so.


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## Mike (Oct 31, 2021)

Extinction, very soon if they lose control of the atmosphere,
overheating as it is, droughts and fire will stop food growing,
torrential rain will erode the land and cause more flooding!

I heard a report about the warming, if it reaches 2 degrees C,
all the coral reefs will die and most of the Pacific islands will
disappear.

So it is frightening for the future generations when the large
countries that cause a lot of the damage are ignoring this
problem and refuse to meet with the rest of the World who
are trying to do something, about it.

Our countries spend more on preparing for war against other
countries, but that wasted money could go a long way to help
lower the temperature.

The South West of the USA is suffering now, as we are during
the summer.

Mike.


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## Patch (Oct 31, 2021)

Not optimistic at all.  The longest living democracy in history will fall before 2030... possibly as early as 2024.  A second current super power will also fall.  Aging power grids will be decimated by attacks and there will be war in the streets.  "Civilized" societies are currently unable to function without electricity, internet, cell phones, and other technological advancements.  Every aspect of putting food on tables, money in pockets, fuel in vehicles, heat in homes relies on electric energy.  
At some point, wars will be fought over water just as we have seen wars fought over oil.  Desalinization is costly and, currently, not a viable option for safe drinking water.  Aquafers are drained.  Yet, the sea water approaches as global temperatures rise.  Less land.  More people.  Less food and drinking water.  
We witnessed the partial collapse of a power grid in Texas just this past winter.  And, today, nothing has been done to correct the issue.  People froze to death in their homes or died from carbon monoxide as they tried unsafe methods of providing heat.  
Too much global divisiveness for the industrialized nations to put their heads together and begin solving issues instead of making them.
Oh, and I wouldn't be surprised to see more pandemics in the not too distant future.

Heck!  I'm 75 years old.  Lots less time left than lived.  Just hurts to see the mess my generation has left for our future generations.


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## Victor (Oct 31, 2021)

No one so far has been able to predict the future, going back to 19th century.
No clues.  It will be very dismal, I think, because humankind is stupid and greedy.
Technologically, it is unimaginable. But human ethics is no better than 2500 years ago
so that will worsen, terribly. New inventions surpass the morality to deal with them.
Robot machines and robotic inventions will be ubiquitous but totally unlike what we expect.


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## Irwin (Oct 31, 2021)

Patch said:


> Not optimistic at all.  The longest living democracy in history will fall before 2030... possibly as early as 2024.  A second current super power will also fall.  Aging power grids will be decimated by attacks and there will be war in the streets.  "Civilized" societies are currently unable to function without electricity, internet, cell phones, and other technological advancements.  Every aspect of putting food on tables, money in pockets, fuel in vehicles, heat in homes relies on electric energy.
> At some point, wars will be fought over water just as we have seen wars fought over oil.  Desalinization is costly and, currently, not a viable option for safe drinking water.  Aquafers are drained.  Yet, the sea water approaches as global temperatures rise.  Less land.  More people.  Less food and drinking water.
> We witnessed the partial collapse of a power grid in Texas just this past winter.  And, today, nothing has been done to correct the issue.  People froze to death in their homes or died from carbon monoxide as they tried unsafe methods of providing heat.
> Too much global divisiveness for the industrialized nations to put their heads together and begin solving issues instead of making them.
> ...


Personally, I refuse to socialize with anyone participating in the subversion of our democracy. I haven't talked to my neighbor in four years.


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## mellowyellow (Oct 31, 2021)

The rich will get richer and the poorer will get poorer.  That's it.  Greed has become our God.


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## StarSong (Oct 31, 2021)

I believe climate change and wars will be our undoing.   Life on this planet will look very different in 100 years and not because of technological advances.


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## Alligatorob (Oct 31, 2021)

It will end badly, has to.  Just a matter of how and when.  

Eventually the sun will get  us if nothing else.  But I doubt it will take that long.  

Hope I don't live long enough to find out.


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## David777 (Oct 31, 2021)

I don't know. Not something I personally read about, study, or think about as my generation's era is past the time that was an immediate concern ala Cold War era.   But we as decades old adults in our Western Civilization can reflect on our individual shallow experiences in the matter that as a forum can paint the ways different people think about it.  A question that certainly is important for those with societal and political power. 

I don't think there is a single vision that can be pointed too as dominantly probable and rather several that are possible, not just bad but a threat to our human race and most of the long evolved amazing life on this unique and no doubt rare blue water planet with an oxygen atmosphere in equilibrium.  Despite the below, I do believe we humans on this blue water planet with maybe a 1 billion population could live in harmony fulfillingly, statically, in a sustainable world that over the universe would be considered as near to a natural heaven as any intelligent organic creatures in the universe might imagine.

What most people don't understand is how fragile our Western Society is to utter collapse and chaos.  The pandemic was a good scare towards that end and has no doubt crossed the mind of some planners.  

Our overpopulated by humans planet is slowly destroying fragile ecosystems that are bound up in complex food chains that might pass the point of being able to recover by feedback without mass species extinction. Each new generation does not witness how much better nature was during earlier eras.  Unstoppable with wealthy and wealth seekers in control since that also reflects true social power.

Given CRISPR gene splicing technology, it may soon be rather possible for a rogue nation or powerful sociopaths with evil intents to begin developing a truly horrible pathogen say piggybacked onto a rhinovirus aka head cold virus.  And then of course is the regular ongoing threat of wars between countries with advanced technology weapons with blunting nuclear proliferation already failing.  

Add natural catastrophe's possible due to climate change like lack of rain over areas where 100s of millions of people live causing chaos worldwide in production, logistic, and shipping of food stuffs that requires modern infrastructure. The biggest possibility of chaos is likely to be if Western Civilization food stops becoming available to large urban populations that depend on the system working. That may not have anything to do with the climate but rather panic in the economic and political process that causes division then chaos.   People begin dying from famine, the guns come, out...


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## MrPants (Oct 31, 2021)

I just love these uplifting, happy threads


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## Alligatorob (Oct 31, 2021)

MrPants said:


> I just love these uplifting, happy threads


I just hope to be uplifted and happy for the rest of my days, and never find out the answer to this one!


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## dseag2 (Oct 31, 2021)

What an interesting topic, and lots of great input in this thread.  We only need to see what has happened in recent years to predict what will happen in the future.  

China is kicking our ass in so many ways.  They have developed a middle class while that in the US slowly declines.  They invest in R&D and innovate while we rest on our laurels.  Heck, China is one of the main reasons cars are so expensive now in the US. They manufacture the microchips that go into new cars and they have scaled back due to Covid, meaning new cars are in short supply and are very expensive.  We could have done it but it was considered too expensive to develop the manufacturing facilities.  Our Billionaires are mostly developing ways to get to space, not investing money in R&D that will benefit the Earth. Think of the money that has been spent that could have benefited families that are going hungry.

There are no longer any bi-partisan politics in Washington.  (Not necessarily a new phenomenon but more recent).  So little gets done.  Our country is now so divided and I expect things to only get worse in the very near future.  I dread the 2024 election.  Will some miracle happen that makes this better?  I can't say.  I will say that the country seems to be more united when we have a common enemy that resides outside of the US.  Think 9/11.  Now our most common enemies are each other.  

I think technology has made our lives so much more convenient in so many ways, but it has further divided us due to the amount of misinformation spread through companies like Facebook.  And as Palides mentioned, companies are not equipped to counter hackers that could take down any of our grids or access our personal information, and because these are private companies the government can't dictate how stringent they are in their oversight.  That is actually my biggest immediate fear.

I'm also a big believer in Climate Change.  I live in Texas.  We had the freak Winter storm this past February.  But it is Oct. 31 and we haven't really moved into Fall.  It was 79 degrees today.  Not complaining, but this is truly unusual.  My friends in Seattle surpassed 110 degree temps this summer with no air conditioning and just went through a Bomb Cyclone (whatever the hell THAT is).  My friends in the Northeast have been battered with storms recently.  Tornadoes are popping up where there used to be zero.  There are so many examples.  I'm not sure what the COP 26 Climate Change summit in Glasgow will achieve.  Without Russia and China's commitment, the other countries can only do so much.

And as others have said, I'm concerned about overpopulation.  We are already overpopulated, and as medicine has improved we've all seen life expectancy extended significantly in the US.  The older generation is growing, yet our healthcare is still expensive and many times subpar.  Between 2010 and 2020, the number of people over 55 grew by 27%, 20 times greater than the collective growth of the population under 55 (1.3%).  The US is going to become Japan soon, with an elderly population that relies on robots for care.  Well, maybe there IS something to be said for technology.


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## Shero (Oct 31, 2021)

I believe the future of mankind is going to be rosy. With luck and hope in our hearts, we shall weed out all the anti vaxxers, we shall march forth into a new tomorrow and we shall conquer


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## dseag2 (Oct 31, 2021)

Shero said:


> I believe the future of mankind is going to be rosy. With luck and hope in our hearts, we shall weed out all the anti vaxxers, we shall march forth into a new tomorrow and we shall conquer


I do love your positivity!


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## Bretrick (Oct 31, 2021)

There will be a greater divide of the haves and have nots.
Mass starvation and homelessness. Many more cities will have slums where the destitute will reside.
Daytime TV will go on as if there is nothing wrong.
Civil wars and diseases will be rampant.
Further extinctions of our wonderful animals.
So grim I am not going to list any more.


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## Lawrence (Oct 31, 2021)

One of the thimgs that I have wondered about is what human beings wiil look like hundreds of years from now. Over the ages the human body has evolved with beter hygene and with medicine. With genetically modified plants and animals that have happened I wonder how the human body could evolve and be genetically modified.  For example what if everyone was the same size like five 5 feet tall and weighed 140 pounds have big brains and eyes and have 6 fingers?


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## oldpop (Oct 31, 2021)

Great Topic fuzzybuddy.  Nature has a way of dealing with things and it will deal with us as it sees fit. The planet itself will still be here long after we have left. It will have plenty of time to recover from anything we can throw at it. We are just a speck of time to it. My prediction is nature will prevail no matter what we do. It is up to us what we do to survive or not. If we die out something else will take our place. This may have happened many times already?


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## Mike (Nov 1, 2021)

I believe that there will be a lot of hunger and starvation, many
could only feed themselves via TV Dinners and a Microwave, now
they don't need the microwave, just phone somebody and a meal
will be delivered, this how many young people have been taught.

We who older at least learned how grow crops and how to cook
and bake things if we can get the ingredients.

The World now belongs to the young, who I fear don't know how
to survive, I have watched their progress through the education
system and the authorities keep changing the subjects that should
be studied, vital subjects, removed and pointless ones added, till
today they are only coached on how to pass the exam, with no real
body applied to the subject.

Sad.

Mike.


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## IrisSenior (Nov 1, 2021)

Yes, there will always be horrible things that happen in this world to people and nature but with technology and many caring and good people there will be many good things too. I think mankind will need to pull together to change and help to get things done - there will be no choice as many things will disappear and we will need to adjust or die with it; i.e., pandemic, global warming, food and water shortages. With all the technology today we can help so many others and it will be in the hands of the younger generation who will (hopefully) rise up to the challenge that we are ALL on this planet together and helping others can only benefit and help themselves.


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## Murrmurr (Nov 1, 2021)

Wow.

I have great faith in our youth. They are inventive and think out-of-the-box. Today's 11 year-olds have seen and understand things that many of us still haven't and may never. They are without prejudice and are not religious and cultural fanatics. Among other things they are creating workable robots, solving complex problems, constructing languages, and building entire worlds containing successful societies.

I'm pretty hopeful.


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## Alligatorob (Nov 1, 2021)

Murrmurr said:


> I have great faith in our youth. They are inventive and think out-of-the-box. Today's 11 year-olds have seen and understand things that many of us still haven't and may never. They are without prejudice and are not religious and cultural fanatics. Among other things they are creating workable robots, solving complex problems, constructing languages, and building entire worlds containing successful societies.


You make some good points, and I also believe our youth are the best educated and possibly most creative generation so far.  That will  help them stave off some of the future problems, but not all and in the end... well it will go badly for us.  

This pandemic is a good example as to the the things we can and cannot do.  I think the rapid development and manufacture of the vaccines has been amazing, not something that would have been possible just a few years ago.  However we had done a dismal job of a unified response in many ways.  If this virus had been more lethal, we could be extinctic by now.  And a more lethal virus is inevitable, what would have happened for example had the HIV virus been as contagious as Covid?  

We also have to worry about manmade or man influenced disasters, war, economic collapse, etc.

And if those don't get us the earth is doomed, or its ability to support life is anyway, by geologic and stellar forces.  This is an interesting read on the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_Earth  To quote selected passages:

Shorter term:
_The current Holocene extinction is being caused by technology and the effects may last for up to five million years. In turn, technology may result in the extinction of humanity, leaving the planet to gradually return to a slower evolutionary pace resulting solely from long-term natural processes._

Longer term:
_Over time intervals of hundreds of millions of years, random celestial events pose a global risk to the biosphere, which can result in mass extinctions. These include impacts by comets or asteroids, and the possibility of a massive stellar explosion, called a supernova, within a 100-light-year radius of the Sun. Other large-scale geological events are more predictable. Milankovitch theory predicts that the planet will continue to undergo glacial periods at least until the Quaternary glaciation comes to an end. These periods are caused by the variations in eccentricity, axial tilt, and precession of the Earth's orbit. As part of the ongoing supercontinent cycle, plate tectonics will probably result in a supercontinent in 250–350 million years. Some time in the next 1.5–4.5 billion years, the axial tilt of the Earth may begin to undergo chaotic variations, with changes in the axial tilt of up to 90°.

The luminosity of the Sun will steadily increase, resulting in a rise in the solar radiation reaching the Earth. This will result in a higher rate of weathering of silicate minerals, affecting the carbonate–silicate cycle which will cause a decrease in the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In about 600 million years from now, the level of carbon dioxide will fall below the level needed to sustain C3 carbon fixation photosynthesis used by trees. Some plants use the C4 carbon fixation method, allowing them to persist at carbon dioxide concentrations as low as 10 parts per million. However, the long-term trend is for plant life to die off altogether. The extinction of plants will be the demise of almost all animal life since plants are the base of the food chain on Earth.

In about one billion years, the solar luminosity will be 10% higher than at present. This will cause the atmosphere to become a "moist greenhouse", resulting in a runaway evaporation of the oceans. As a likely consequence, plate tectonics will come to an end, and with them the entire carbon cycle. Following this event, in about 2–3 billion years, the planet's magnetic dynamo may cease, causing the magnetosphere to decay and leading to an accelerated loss of volatiles from the outer atmosphere. Four billion years from now, the increase in the Earth's surface temperature will cause a runaway greenhouse effect, creating conditions more extreme than present-day Venus and heating Earth's surface enough to melt it. By that point, all life on the Earth will be extinct. The most probable fate of the planet is absorption by the Sun in about 7.5 billion years, after the star has entered the red giant phase and expanded beyond the planet's current orbit._

It just ain't gonna last forever...


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## JimBob1952 (Nov 1, 2021)

Every so often one of these "gloom and doom" threads pops up.  

A couple of facts (not speculations):

1)  Around the world, the percentage of those living in poverty has decreased from about 36% in 1990 to about 10% today.   The World Bank has a goal of 3% by 2030, which may be too ambitious in the wake of Covid.

2)  " Global emissions plunged by almost 2 billion tonnes in 2020, the largest absolute decline in history."  Again, Covid-related, but still... 

3) "The absolute number of war deaths has been declining since 1946. In some years in the early post-war era, around half a million people died through direct violence in wars; in contrast, in 2016 the number of all battle-related deaths in conflicts involving at least one state was 87,432."

Of course, if you are a gloom-and-doomer, then fewer war deaths = more people = more carbon emissions.  But cheer up, the global population is expected to peak sometime around 2060 at about 9.5 billion and to start declining rapidly after that.  When people leave grinding poverty, they are less likely to bear so many children as an insurance policy against an uncertain future.  

With luck, I'll be checking out around 2050.  It will be interesting to see what really happens.   Most predictions about the future are wrong.


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## Alligatorob (Nov 1, 2021)

JimBob1952 said:


> A couple of facts (not speculations):


You make some good points, by many measures we live in the best time in human history to be alive, and its getting better.  We, in the Western countries anyway, have the cleanest drinking water we have ever had and some of the cleanest air to breath.  And on the war front I think the news is even better, according to Jered Diamond even during the height of WWII the risk of dying a violent death was much less than it had been for most of human existence, wars were smaller but people have been fighting and killing each other since there were first people.  Less today than every.

I just don't see how it can last, but as I said don't know how or when it will end.


JimBob1952 said:


> Most predictions about the future are wrong.


Absolutely!


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## Judycat (Nov 1, 2021)

Extinction. We are a comfort driven species. Take that away, and it's good by sweet life.


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## Knight (Nov 1, 2021)

At 80 my future is limited. So the future as in 30 years from now IMO won't be as full of the resources to waste. Considering  oil  & plastic all the uses that are either burned or wind up in landfills there is a dwindling supply.  Dwindling supply as experienced at the beginning of the pandemic should be a good indicator of how humans world wide will react. 

While I get to enjoy the way things are now the distant future I doubt will be as good.


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## Mr. Ed (Nov 1, 2021)

To predict the future I rely on toe fungus


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## fuzzybuddy (Nov 1, 2021)

We're a lazy species. We tend to put things off for awhile. And we're kind of complacent. I think we are going to clog along, until there's a crisis, then work like hell to avoid the consequences, then clog along, again. Technology is just going to take off. And because, every moment of our lives will be recorded, crime will be reduced. We love to tell others about anything, so communication will be instantaneous. We are going to be wired at birth.


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## Gaer (Nov 1, 2021)

I know no one likes to read long posts!


I don't know if you are speaking of the upcoming century or far ahead in the future, for they are quite different.

Many will be lifted soon, as wars escalate and illness reigns.  As the Mid-East wars, many will plan even more horrid events.
Once man's minds plan the demise of Nations,  it gains momentum and is difficult to stop.  Russia, China and Iran will move against America to begin the third World War.  China will be the aggressor and will come out as the world leader.  The war will be short but complete devastation all over the world.
In America, the Constitution will hang by a thread.  The government will have no money to hold up to the people.  The economic system will be broken.  People will try to trade services for food and water at first.  Later, this will be that they will thieve and kill each other for necessities.
Hatred will stay in the hearts for generations.  Apathy will replace spirituality and some will try to hang on to religions but this will perish.


After much time, spirituality will begin to blossom.  This will spur creativity and innovation.  with high technological advances.
Science will lead this as the Sun is utilized in advancement in space travel as well as varied ways.  It will be stored as molecules to be used as needed.  Gravitational force and magnetic force will be harnessed for transportation and food  growth for the world. The energy molecule will be used for light and heat, among multiple other uses.
This energy molecule will be stored in a waiting area of outer space.  When needed, the light will be retracted for use in the directed area.
The most wonderful inventions will be used for the betterment of mankind.

Instead of spiraling into the de-evolution of the soul, men will come into a different direction.  Science and physics will harness and utilize the layers of energy in all fields of life, and in all thought and  action.
Imagine a world of no illness, no pain, no anger, no sadness;  of only the expansion of happiness!  Creativity will abound!
Children will be taught to create and send strong, deliberate thought to help others.  Studies of the human mind and how it integrates with the Being in the eternal soul will be given great study!  Man will then heal their own ills and send powerful positive thought into the atmosphere.  When this occurs, wonders beyond our imagination will be experienced on the Earth!  This will be the beginning of LOVE on the Earth!
A life of this wonder will emulate the Heavens!

Oops!  Didn't mean to write a book here!


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## Tom 86 (Nov 1, 2021)

This is something from way back in 1954 on the Paul Harvey show.  This says it all.


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## charry (Nov 1, 2021)

Complete extinction .....


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## Irwin (Nov 1, 2021)

In the near future, like within the next 50 years, we'll probably have another world war.


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## Packerjohn (Nov 1, 2021)

MrPants said:


> I just love these uplifting, happy threads


The life on this planet is not a TV sitcom.  We are in serious trouble.  Over population will result in wars over food.  The standard of living will drop in the western world.  The millennials hiding behind their phones will not be able to solve these problems.  Governments are afraid to make the necessary changes that are needed.  Oh yes, talk is cheap.  Real action is needed.  We have a population of over 8 billion people.  It's a good thing I'm 75 and wouldn't be around when the proverbial "crap hits that fan."


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## dseag2 (Nov 1, 2021)

ABC is running a series on the devastating famine in Madagascar due to Climate Change.  No, this is not a TV sitcom.  It may not be happening in the US (presently), but it is heartbreaking and it is real.

https://news.yahoo.com/amnesty-urges-immediate-relief-famine-085253980.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall


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## Shero (Nov 1, 2021)

Bretrick said:


> There will be a greater divide of the haves and have nots.
> Mass starvation and homelessness. Many more cities will have slums where the destitute will reside.
> Daytime TV will go on as if there is nothing wrong.
> Civil wars and diseases will be rampant.
> ...


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## Shero (Nov 1, 2021)

Murrmurr said:


> Wow.
> 
> I have great faith in our youth. They are inventive and think out-of-the-box. Today's 11 year-olds have seen and understand things that many of us still haven't and may never. They are without prejudice and are not religious and cultural fanatics. Among other things they are creating workable robots, solving complex problems, constructing languages, and building entire worlds containing successful societies.
> 
> I'm pretty hopeful.


  Me too!


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## Gary O' (Nov 1, 2021)

What do you predict the future of mankind will be?​
I have no prediction

Matthew 24 sez it for me


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## jerry old (Nov 1, 2021)

Just listing the ills takes time and two hundred or more words.
The next century will be like the last, only more dismal.


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## Ruthanne (Nov 1, 2021)

I really wonder if humankind will become extinct one day.  I don't know how it will happen though.


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## chic (Nov 2, 2021)

I don't know. I'm not seeing a clear cut path upon which the world is heading. Astrologically, Uranus entered Taurus in May, 2018. Taurus is not a sign that welcomes change and Uranus forces change upon people. The last time Uranus transited Taurus, was in the early 1940's. World War II. Previous to that, it was the years just preceding the American civil war. 

There is always a cataclysmic change after a Uranus transit of Taurus. I would look for the world to be very different after Uranus exits Taurus in 2026, but for better or for worse will depend upon who emerges as the victor in this mess.

I do fear technology will take over everything making life suffocating and unfulfilling for humans.


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## Packerjohn (Nov 3, 2021)

Shero said:


> Me too!


Technology for many seems to be the answer to all our problems but is it?  There is still the problem of too many people on this planet of constant deminishing resources.  As the world's population increases we are destroying our forests to make more land to grow more food.  There is only so much land.  Furthermore, the rich countries can play around with technology but in many countries of the world many people don't even have access to the internet; never mind paying $2,000 for the latest Apple iphone.  Many parts of the world are running out of drinking water.  The water table in the SW USA is getting lower and lower as people build more homes with swimming pools and farmers need water for their crops to grow.  Technology is pretty good in many cases but I wonder if those that worship at the temple of technology as the solution to all the problems of the world are worshiping a false god?


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## squatting dog (Nov 6, 2021)

Future? Too easy....


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## Shero (Nov 6, 2021)

The future of mankind is brilliant. I only wish I could be here to see it and the way our wonderful young people manage it. But I shall be watching in spirit!!


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## grahamg (Nov 6, 2021)

I predict folks are going to start to read more about philosophy, "such as the thoughts to be found on a thread called "Food for thought" you might want to check out"!  

I expect the changes brought about for mankind as a whole will be profound due to this generation of interest in deep and profound issues, and just maybe we'll save ourselves, or most of what we cherish in time.


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## officerripley (Nov 6, 2021)

I'm not sure what direction humanity will go in but it may not matter; once the delicate biosphere that supports human (and most other) life is worn out--and that appears to be speeding up & it's likely at least some of us here in this group will still be alive to see it unfortunately--then there won't be a darn thing we can do to avoid hell on earth, it'll be too late.


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## chic (Nov 7, 2021)

I think AI will take over everything and people will become even more dispensable than they already are.


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## grahamg (Nov 7, 2021)

chic said:


> I think AI will take over everything and people will become even more dispensable than they already are.


"Over my dead body", (though more than likely you're right, and my statement too!).


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## timoc (Nov 7, 2021)

What do you predict the future of mankind will be?​
*Lots and lots* of humanoid heads with bleeping sounds and flashing lights set inside large goldfish bowls and sitting ontop of velvet cushions.


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## Paco Dennis (Nov 7, 2021)




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## Packerjohn (Jun 22, 2022)

Shero said:


> The future of mankind is brilliant. I only wish I could be here to see it and the way our wonderful young people manage it. But I shall be watching in spirit!!


Before them young folks can enjoy their brilliant futures, they might have to solve the problems of planet over-population the dwindling resources of food, water, gas and oil.  While they are at it, they might figure out how to solve the problems of war and the nuclear threat.

I remember, in the 50s, there were pictures telling us how we were all to be flying around in some sort of cars.  The future shown in TV series such as "Father Knows Best" and "Leave It To Beaver" where daddy went to work with a brief case and mommy stayed home and cooked wonderful meals has proven to be "pure bunk."  We have all become hampsters running on that tread wheel just to keep that proverbial "wolf from our door."


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## Tish (Jun 22, 2022)

It's too depressing to think about it.


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## oldpop (Jun 22, 2022)

Packerjohn said:


> We have all become hamsters running on that tread wheel just to keep that proverbial "wolf from our door."


That's correct. I figured it out when I was about sixteen and lived accordingly. I worked when I needed to and played when I wanted to. Low maintenance. No complaints from me.


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## rgp (Jun 22, 2022)

mellowyellow said:


> The rich will get richer and the poorer will get poorer.  That's it.  Greed has become our God.



 Greed has always been our god ..... and without it there would be no progress. For it is greed for [more] money/success etc that drives the innovators / inventors etc, to succeed and they are the ones that ........ when they do succeed employ the rest of us. 

Yeah I know, sometimes the amount of greed displayed drives me nutz but ....IMO, it is a necessary part of society in business.

Some folks like to mask it as ambition ........ that is just a soft euphemism for greed ...........IMO.


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## Em in Ohio (Jun 22, 2022)

Patch said:


> Not optimistic at all.  The longest living democracy in history will fall before 2030... possibly as early as 2024.  A second current super power will also fall.  Aging power grids will be decimated by attacks and there will be war in the streets.  "Civilized" societies are currently unable to function without electricity, internet, cell phones, and other technological advancements.  Every aspect of putting food on tables, money in pockets, fuel in vehicles, heat in homes relies on electric energy.
> At some point, wars will be fought over water just as we have seen wars fought over oil.  Desalinization is costly and, currently, not a viable option for safe drinking water.  Aquafers are drained.  Yet, the sea water approaches as global temperatures rise.  Less land.  More people.  Less food and drinking water.
> We witnessed the partial collapse of a power grid in Texas just this past winter.  And, today, nothing has been done to correct the issue.  People froze to death in their homes or died from carbon monoxide as they tried unsafe methods of providing heat.
> Too much global divisiveness for the industrialized nations to put their heads together and begin solving issues instead of making them.
> ...


I don't know if this poster is still active, but I agree with this response to FuzzyBuddy's question,
"What do you predict the future of (hu)mankind will be?"​
Unexpectedly, I now have twin great-grandsons, born during the Covid-19 pandemic.  I really didn't want to live to see my grandchildren reproduce.  I worry about their futures.  I wonder how _much_ of a future they will have.  I'm scared.


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## Patricia (Jun 24, 2022)

palides2021 said:


> My prediction:
> As long as technology progresses at the rate it has, we are doomed. I'm not against technology, but I don't like that it's progressing so fast in such a short time. Can we humans keep up? I remember growing up and we didn't have access to computers until the 1980s.  Cell phones weren't around. Although I like the computer and cell phone, they have become important in my life, yet these past twenty years have seen astronomical increases in technology in other areas, like cryptocurrency, electric cars, artificial intelligence and robots. We might be flying our cars one day. Or a robot will be our companion. Imagine that!! Technology, however, depends on electricity to survive. What happens to climate issues when electricity demand shooting up the roof? So I'm worried about a number of things.
> 
> Don't get me wrong, there are the pros and cons to technology. Technology has helped in diagnosing illnesses and diseases. We have information at our fingertips, etc. Technology can be manipulated and abused, and that's what I'm worried about. If hackers get into the system, they can cause havoc. If robots decide to rule the earth, bye-bye humanity. Even the airplanes that were built eventually became military planes that dropped bombs during the wars.
> ...


Edmund Burke and whatever he said about the need to be careful with change to avoid losing what is good.


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