Ok, this thread may or may not work.
I've been pondering the future for a while now. Not the immediate future, but 30-50 years time.
We've been living in truly remarkable times. just twenty to thirty years ago most of what we view as normal would have been seen as science fiction, & I honestly think things are going to change dramatically within the next thirty years.
First thing that springs to mind is driverless cars. Whilst this may seem like a small thing, it will have a MASSIVE effect on so much. Firstly, street layouts will change, people will have front gardens again, transportation cost will plummet (ignoring possible energy cost increases that I'll touch on later), ride sharing could be a huge business (a large minibus with separate pods for example), car ownership will be much more rare ( why own when it would be more cost effective to use an automated taxi?). The biggest impact will be jobs though IMO.
Along with more automation elsewhere, some estimates put global job reduction at more than 60% within the next three decades. As new jobs will not be replacing them as they have in the past, that will lead to massive socio-economic impacts.
Personally I see no choice but to implement some form of UBI in this scenario, & 'having a job' wont seem like something everyone must do. I assume a lot of people will think this is unlikely & will argue it, so I'll leave it there for now.
I mentioned energy costs earlier. In this respect, & that of water, (possibly food) the future doesn't look so rosy. Increasing populations will lead to huge strain on both energy & water unless something massively dramatic changes. One thing that looks increasingly likely to develop is personal energy supplies, basically massive batteries that can draw from the grid at times of low demand & also charge from personal solar or wind power in your homes, which will help things, we're currently seeing some very big investments in this area by existing energy & oil companies.
I think a war, or wars, over water & water supplies are a big possibility, it's earth most treasured resource, & some countries are going to want to leverage their power into ensuring the supply.
There's loads more I can think, some with massive ramifications & others that are less so, but I'd like your thoughts. Do you think what I've mentioned is likely, bollocks, or do you have your own ideas about what the future holds?
I've been pondering the future for a while now. Not the immediate future, but 30-50 years time.
We've been living in truly remarkable times. just twenty to thirty years ago most of what we view as normal would have been seen as science fiction, & I honestly think things are going to change dramatically within the next thirty years.
First thing that springs to mind is driverless cars. Whilst this may seem like a small thing, it will have a MASSIVE effect on so much. Firstly, street layouts will change, people will have front gardens again, transportation cost will plummet (ignoring possible energy cost increases that I'll touch on later), ride sharing could be a huge business (a large minibus with separate pods for example), car ownership will be much more rare ( why own when it would be more cost effective to use an automated taxi?). The biggest impact will be jobs though IMO.
Along with more automation elsewhere, some estimates put global job reduction at more than 60% within the next three decades. As new jobs will not be replacing them as they have in the past, that will lead to massive socio-economic impacts.
Personally I see no choice but to implement some form of UBI in this scenario, & 'having a job' wont seem like something everyone must do. I assume a lot of people will think this is unlikely & will argue it, so I'll leave it there for now.
I mentioned energy costs earlier. In this respect, & that of water, (possibly food) the future doesn't look so rosy. Increasing populations will lead to huge strain on both energy & water unless something massively dramatic changes. One thing that looks increasingly likely to develop is personal energy supplies, basically massive batteries that can draw from the grid at times of low demand & also charge from personal solar or wind power in your homes, which will help things, we're currently seeing some very big investments in this area by existing energy & oil companies.
I think a war, or wars, over water & water supplies are a big possibility, it's earth most treasured resource, & some countries are going to want to leverage their power into ensuring the supply.
There's loads more I can think, some with massive ramifications & others that are less so, but I'd like your thoughts. Do you think what I've mentioned is likely, bollocks, or do you have your own ideas about what the future holds?
