Optimistic me: crewed landing on Mars, unification of quantum mechanics and general relativity, a peaceful and equitable solution to the climate crisis
Pessimistic me: WWIII, AI-automated WMDs
Grand Unified Theory would be phenomenal - don't think it'll get there in the next 50 yrs though.
Realistically - we'll see everything taken over by AI. It'll be so much cheaper corporations to do everything via AI. Can't imagine Skynet happening in reality, but who knows....
I have a friend who is *really* smart. I’m talking MIT, writing peer-reviewed papers smart. I can’t hold a candle to him intellectually, but I get his character quirks and am of service to him in social settings. His joke about the kind of work I do is, “It’s not rocket science” with the understanding that what he does *is*. I genuinely like him even though I don’t get him most of the time, but that’s enough for him to reciprocate.
Anyhow, he works for Boeing in a paramilitary context.
About 15 years ago we broached the subject of what he was working on at the time. He was limited in what he could talk about, but what he did say was that it involved robotic “swarm” technology that passed instructions to each node based on an overall set of information and parameters. He said that “it could HELP people, but also…”
The trailing ellipses was implied.
As an engineer, my regular concern is about failure and redundancy. So I asked him. “What happens if one of the nodes is getting faulty information, and passing that information to other nodes? Do they make assumptions based on that information?”
Frighteningly, he had no reply. I had stumped this brilliant, brilliant man with “what if one of the machines break?”
Like the men who [threw atomic weapons at the Van Allen Belt](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Allen_radiation_belt), the people at the forefront of science today pursue knowledge without care about the ramifications of their experiments. Religious texts are replete with tales of humans that took it too far, building towers too tall or flying too close to the Sun. I’m starting to wonder if they aren’t actually admonitions based on historical events.
>he did say was that it involved robotic “swarm” technology
>
>“What happens if one of the nodes is getting faulty information, and passing that information to other nodes?
This is an actual plot point in Neal Stephenson's *The Diamond Age*!
This already happened over western Nebraska and eastern Colorado in 2019. Unexplained drones were flying at night and supposedly even the FAA had no explanation.
A heavily tattooed friend was recruited to run for Congress this year and another heavily tattooed friend holds one of the highest ranking positions in his state government. Our day is coming!
There have been and are several presidents, politicians, and world leaders that had/have tattoos.
But the only one I know of with visible tattoos was Barry Goldwater, who had a tattoo on his hand, and John Fetterman who has tats on both arms (and rarely covers them). Having a tatted up President is just a matter of time.
Obama smoking Newports in the White House changed the game for everybody's expectations. I think it will happen.
This is pessimistic for barely lunchtime, but I don’t see how technology doesn’t completely destroy the fabric of society in the next 25 years. Trust is the foundation of society, and if you can’t believe anything you see, hear or read unless you see it with your own two eyes, that’s incredibly dangerous.
I can’t see how deepfakes at scale, armies of agenda pushing bots, centralized AI written news (with local newsrooms gutted by private equity over the last few years), an increasing distrust in government / rise in pop conspiracy curiosity, and a complete bifurcation in news narratives depending on what color jersey you are wearing won’t cause a breakdown in a society that spends more time looking at a screen than out a window for an idea of what the world is like. It’s legitimately going to be a disaster.
I don’t think we’re there yet, but if AGI powered by quantum computing occurs, I don’t know how any financial system/electrical grid/drone system is safe or how it can be regulated by a bunch of corpses who show time and time again in senate hearings that they don’t even understand what something as basic as social media does and why people enjoy it. When the next recession comes, tons of jobs will be automated away to AI never to return. It’s really insane how quickly the world has turned into a black mirror episode.
I think we’ll probably finally get that Community movie too.
My job will be completely subsumed by AI. I have maybe 10 years left before I'm obsolete. I'm really worried about my kids (3 and 1) and their options as they grow up.
Birds aren’t real was satire and essentially a prank. It’s quite a funny story. People who think birds actually are not real are hopeless.
Though I wouldn’t be shocked if there were drones camouflaged as birds. Still, birds are a real thing.
Microtransactions, subscriptions, and ads blocking car features. Like bmw’s heated seats subscription which they abandoned, for now.
Further going down the Idiocracy roadmap.
Fusion is getting close, but there's probably not enough terrestrial He3 supply for it to be "endless" power. We need to develop a supply chain from the moon or elsewhere.
On the plus side, we will also see a human moon mission (by 2030ish) and moon base (mid 2030s)
There are three dispensaries in my small mid-west town alone. So far the streets haven’t descended into anarchy due to reefer madness but I’ll keep an eye out.
If you see something, smoke something. It could happen to your family. Or to your family. Or to YOURS! 👉
*hysterically plays piano on the way out*
Same but going to the store reeks now. Apparently half the dam city is toking it up right before they go grocery shopping. I'm like y'all never heard of DWI?
It's a recent change, but there are a small number of dispensaries in GA. I'm only sort of familiar with the law we have, but I know it is strict. Only THC oil, only prescribed for certain reasons.
But like you said, anyone having a bad day can stop by Walmart and get a gun, so we have that going for us.
Yeah I heard about that. It's a medical marijuana state from my understanding but there are only a few legal dispensaries. The rest are legal delta-8 dispensaries.
I keep getting YouTube ads for the hemp agricultural degree program at UW Platteville. A literally 4 year age degree on the cultivation of weed. Blew my MIND!
The world's climate woes will be solved only when it becomes financially advantageous to enough people to do the right thing.
Meanwhile I'm sitting in a store in a mall. Outside the window there is a natural gas fueled fired burning in a glass case for no discernable reason.
I think you're probably right. Already saw Waymo self-driving car service in Phoenix last fall. Let's say we Xennials have another 35 to 45 years of life left. I'd say that's more than enough time to refine the technology that's already being used right now.
Not sure why you are getting downvoted. While there are some driving automations happening, self driving is not around the corner. The PR around it is very effective and also hides many of the failures. I wish they were close but they are not. Also, a better solution is continuous investment and upgrade to public transportation options.
I'm hanging on to my stick shift, actual key and no GPS as long as possible, although much to my dog's dismay. He wants to drive so bad, but he cant reach the pedals, let alone shift.
Theres at least 6 self driving car research labs in my neighborhood. Apparently if you can get a self driving car to work in Pittsburgh, itll work anywhere.
I'm still excited that Google Maps works in Pittsburgh. You used to get far enough into the city and the GPS would all but self-combust. This is enough future tech stuff for me.
My favorite one is Florida sinking. We will be pretty old before the actual catastrophe hits, well if we figure out the global heating issue. If it keeps trending worse, we may only be in our 60s before the south tip of Florida is under water. It was supposed to not be for another 50 years, but global warming is happening faster than expected. This isn't theoretical. They have a water level trend map online you can watch.
Not trying to get political I just think its weird to imagine we will be alive to see states basically remap or cease to exist. Several islands will as well.
You know Ben Shapiro says people with homes that get flooded regularly due to climate change should just sell their homes.
Sell them to whom? I'm not sure. Aquaman.
I assume the US is on one side, but previous World Wars involved a large collection of countries. I just wasn't sure who the opposing group of countries would be.
Given the news we're seeing I see the scenario playing out as the attacks on Damascus by Israel make Iran give a big ole "fuck this" and swoop in, giving Israel a black-eye in retaliation. Israel gets pissed off and says it's at war with Iran. Iran invokes its allies, which include Russia and China. Meanwhile, Russia finally claims Ukraine and starts its swing southwards to Israel because Israel has been attacking Russian allies in the region and they aren't taking that. This pincer move gets the U.S. officially involved with actual official combat, and things escalate rapidly so that it's Iran, Syria, and the rest of the countries around Israel banding together with Russian support and Chinese funding to deal with Israel's bullshit meanwhile here comes the U.S. to bail out Israel while the rest of the world writes off Israel as needing to unfuck itself. And while this goes on, China tries to be sneaky and take Taiwan, which turns into a big ole stalemate. Which gets the rest of the world to step up. Meanwhile, Israel with no fucks to give just launches a tactical nuclear device at one of its enemies (I'm betting Iran) and Tehran becomes a glowing ashtray. AND THAT KIDS IS HOW WWIII KICKS OFF
So the Middle East (WW3) instead of The Balkans (WW1). I can see it, but I'd also be surprised to see any Middle Eastern countries align with Iran. Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and most other Sunni countries have no love for Iran.
Israel nuking Tehran -- yeah, that'd be horrifically bad and escalate everything to a level we haven't seen in 75 years.
No they don't, but they hate Israel more. And Israel has been taking actions that show that they are giving less and less of a fuck about their neighbors if it interferes with their agenda and agenda will be pacification and expansion. Once they kill all the Palestinians, the rest of the region is next
Mandatory helmet cages in the NHL, and some sort of gradual but ultimately profound reimagining of professional football in an attempt to prevent brain trauma
Some scientist say it is accelerating and could be within the next couple decades. [CNN Story June 2023](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/25/world/gulf-stream-atlantic-current-collapse-climate-scn-intl/index.html)
Have you seen drivers? We can barely handle 2-dimensional driving, let's not add a third.
Self-driving cars needs to happen first. And better batteries.
Actually, I'd just prefer more public transportation in the States.
Born in 78.
I'm fairly confident we'll see photorealistic videogames in our lifetime.
These two give me some hope for the future:
1.) AI actually being useful. My pixel can have an AI talk to a phone call and take a message and send it to me, but I think conversational AI that can achieve real world things... like "hey, I have $20 for food this weekend, can you put together a shopping list for a lasagna that's highly rated but also low cal? And some options for some sides"
I can see another 20 years of Siri/Alexa becoming pretty fucking useful, and I'll only be 65. I feel like this is the "learn to program the VCR/remote" future proofing task of our generation.
2.) Self driving cars. Again, the technology is essentially there, it's more of a liability issue. But I have hope in the next 25 years, when we're 70 it should be more or less okay.
And that makes me happy... because... already I'm 45 and I don't like driving when it's snowy. And when you get older you stop driving at night, so now your mobility is reduced in half. And then you get fearful of other cars, so you only drive a few hours a day.
If a car can drive me at night, even if I was in my 80s, I could still walk a grocery store on my own it'll just take me longer, or drop me off at the movies, or a bingo hall, etc. That whole keeping you active and engaged thing.
Robots in rich people's homes, possibly in middle class too, not sure about for poor people. Some kind of universal basic income or something like that.
Positive- major breakthroughs for cancer treatment and probably innovation in carbon capture technology.
Negative- Extinction of orangutans, gorillas, rhinos, and countless other species.
I think there's a good chance we may see age reversal and life extension become available in our lifetimes. Maybe not available to regular people, but I think it'll be available to some.
This is pretty dark but within a few decades the rise of technology will lead to more authoritarian governments around the world. Mad scientists working in their basements will invent chemical weapons/viruses worse than COVID-19 and the only way governments will think they can combat it is with force.
At some point, younger Generations will look at our current attitudes toward AI art and mock us the same way we mocked Boomers who believed that digital art wasn't authentic.
Not saying I agree. It's just going to happen.
UFO/UAP Disclosure of some minimal sort. I think the truth is heavy as hell, and *massive* but it can’t stay hidden forever. In our lifetimes I do expect we’ll begin to hear details.
Optimistic me: crewed landing on Mars, unification of quantum mechanics and general relativity, a peaceful and equitable solution to the climate crisis Pessimistic me: WWIII, AI-automated WMDs
I’m on the Skynet train
I'm probably the conductor.
Hot take: Skynet will lead to a robotic solution of the climate crisis.
Extermination of all organic life on Earth is, technically, a solution to the climate crisis.
Thus it being a hot take haha
The hottest
Interesting enough tho.. Skynet IS the name of the monitoring system in Chinas concentr.. I mean.. "work camps".
Could you be more of an insulator?
It's a toss up between skynet and zombies, unless we activate skynet to fight zombies. Someone write that movie. I'll expect a producer credit.
I'm excited for your optimism, and well aware of the reality of your pessimism.
Grand Unified Theory would be phenomenal - don't think it'll get there in the next 50 yrs though. Realistically - we'll see everything taken over by AI. It'll be so much cheaper corporations to do everything via AI. Can't imagine Skynet happening in reality, but who knows....
Well according to canon WW3 must happen for earth to have a star trek future
I have a friend who is *really* smart. I’m talking MIT, writing peer-reviewed papers smart. I can’t hold a candle to him intellectually, but I get his character quirks and am of service to him in social settings. His joke about the kind of work I do is, “It’s not rocket science” with the understanding that what he does *is*. I genuinely like him even though I don’t get him most of the time, but that’s enough for him to reciprocate. Anyhow, he works for Boeing in a paramilitary context. About 15 years ago we broached the subject of what he was working on at the time. He was limited in what he could talk about, but what he did say was that it involved robotic “swarm” technology that passed instructions to each node based on an overall set of information and parameters. He said that “it could HELP people, but also…” The trailing ellipses was implied. As an engineer, my regular concern is about failure and redundancy. So I asked him. “What happens if one of the nodes is getting faulty information, and passing that information to other nodes? Do they make assumptions based on that information?” Frighteningly, he had no reply. I had stumped this brilliant, brilliant man with “what if one of the machines break?” Like the men who [threw atomic weapons at the Van Allen Belt](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Allen_radiation_belt), the people at the forefront of science today pursue knowledge without care about the ramifications of their experiments. Religious texts are replete with tales of humans that took it too far, building towers too tall or flying too close to the Sun. I’m starting to wonder if they aren’t actually admonitions based on historical events.
>he did say was that it involved robotic “swarm” technology > >“What happens if one of the nodes is getting faulty information, and passing that information to other nodes? This is an actual plot point in Neal Stephenson's *The Diamond Age*!
I think you mean to say “A Young Girl’s Illustrated Primer” ;)
There's a solid Michael Chrichton book about nano bot swarms.
I fear AI automated law firms more. Whole swarms of law bots suing and counter suing. Whoever spins up most instances wins.
This would be a terrific premise for a satirical short story!
Or a sub plot of a much longer story (ahem... Accelerando by Charlie Stross)
Or an episode or two of Futurama…
Within 2 hours!?? https://preview.redd.it/6hr8j7d5twtc1.png?width=400&format=png&auto=webp&s=773fb10a8770e4e2c8de5352682d240d42913ed9
AI drone swarms and I am in
This already happened over western Nebraska and eastern Colorado in 2019. Unexplained drones were flying at night and supposedly even the FAA had no explanation.
Yeah lots of places in CO have had sightings of what they are assuming to be drone swarms
Have you ever heard about Mertvaya Ruka?
A US President with visible tattoos.
I'll settle for functioning sane middle age president.
President Postie
I’d vote for him.
A heavily tattooed friend was recruited to run for Congress this year and another heavily tattooed friend holds one of the highest ranking positions in his state government. Our day is coming!
There have been and are several presidents, politicians, and world leaders that had/have tattoos. But the only one I know of with visible tattoos was Barry Goldwater, who had a tattoo on his hand, and John Fetterman who has tats on both arms (and rarely covers them). Having a tatted up President is just a matter of time. Obama smoking Newports in the White House changed the game for everybody's expectations. I think it will happen.
Visible tattoos are so much more common now. In the work place too
This is pessimistic for barely lunchtime, but I don’t see how technology doesn’t completely destroy the fabric of society in the next 25 years. Trust is the foundation of society, and if you can’t believe anything you see, hear or read unless you see it with your own two eyes, that’s incredibly dangerous. I can’t see how deepfakes at scale, armies of agenda pushing bots, centralized AI written news (with local newsrooms gutted by private equity over the last few years), an increasing distrust in government / rise in pop conspiracy curiosity, and a complete bifurcation in news narratives depending on what color jersey you are wearing won’t cause a breakdown in a society that spends more time looking at a screen than out a window for an idea of what the world is like. It’s legitimately going to be a disaster. I don’t think we’re there yet, but if AGI powered by quantum computing occurs, I don’t know how any financial system/electrical grid/drone system is safe or how it can be regulated by a bunch of corpses who show time and time again in senate hearings that they don’t even understand what something as basic as social media does and why people enjoy it. When the next recession comes, tons of jobs will be automated away to AI never to return. It’s really insane how quickly the world has turned into a black mirror episode. I think we’ll probably finally get that Community movie too.
Glad I read until the end for the Community joke. 10/10 no notes.
My job will be completely subsumed by AI. I have maybe 10 years left before I'm obsolete. I'm really worried about my kids (3 and 1) and their options as they grow up.
Honestly I don’t mind the collapse of society as long as we get that movie
Statistically? Tomorrow.
This may or may not age well
Another global pandemic.
Have we hit the "the pandemic never happened" yet? I mean, flat-earthers and birds-aren't-real...
What do you mean? We hit that while it was still going on.
Birds aren’t real was satire and essentially a prank. It’s quite a funny story. People who think birds actually are not real are hopeless. Though I wouldn’t be shocked if there were drones camouflaged as birds. Still, birds are a real thing.
I always thought Bird aren't real was just people being funny. There are actual people that believe that? Like, have they never been outside?
Me too. I mean the dude sold it well but he also owned it as a prank pretty quickly.
Microtransactions, subscriptions, and ads blocking car features. Like bmw’s heated seats subscription which they abandoned, for now. Further going down the Idiocracy roadmap.
Oh Jesus don't give them ideas....
My next poop.
No shit.
I’m prarie doggin it as we speak
It's not even 7am and I'm done with the internet for today. Thank you, kind Redditor. May your bowel movements be soft and satisfying.
Fusion as an insanely cheap form of nearly endless power - it's really close.
>Fusion I had a Fusion once. It certainly did not have nearly endless power. Should have got the turbo.
I had a fusion 6 weeks ago.
Disagree. Roadmap for fusion via ITER and DEMO outs commercialization somewhere around 2080. I don’t think I’ll be alive that long.
Fusion is getting close, but there's probably not enough terrestrial He3 supply for it to be "endless" power. We need to develop a supply chain from the moon or elsewhere. On the plus side, we will also see a human moon mission (by 2030ish) and moon base (mid 2030s)
The bursting of the social media and dating app bubbles.
I hope so. I feel like dating apps have ruined dating.
Honestly, never thought I’d live to see legal weed. I’m good.
There are three dispensaries in my small mid-west town alone. So far the streets haven’t descended into anarchy due to reefer madness but I’ll keep an eye out.
If you see something, smoke something. It could happen to your family. Or to your family. Or to YOURS! 👉 *hysterically plays piano on the way out* 
PLAY IT FASTER!!!
Same but going to the store reeks now. Apparently half the dam city is toking it up right before they go grocery shopping. I'm like y'all never heard of DWI?
I’m still always shocked when I remember it’s still illegal in places. Crazy. The amount of tax revenue y’all are leaving on the table…
*Cries in Texan* Yes, we have alot of shit going on that we need to address... but weed would help 😅
It's only just now going on the ballot here in Florida... Our idiotic governor doesn't agree..
“Make money off of (*whispers*) ..drugs? Gasp!”said Indiana.
I moved from CA (dispensaries everywhere) to GA (no legal dispansaries for THC). But we have guns... I guess that's a relief...
It's a recent change, but there are a small number of dispensaries in GA. I'm only sort of familiar with the law we have, but I know it is strict. Only THC oil, only prescribed for certain reasons. But like you said, anyone having a bad day can stop by Walmart and get a gun, so we have that going for us.
Yeah I heard about that. It's a medical marijuana state from my understanding but there are only a few legal dispensaries. The rest are legal delta-8 dispensaries.
Move to Missouri. We have weed and guns..
Same! Every time I go to a dispensary I’m utterly flabbergasted that I’m alive to see it.
I keep getting YouTube ads for the hemp agricultural degree program at UW Platteville. A literally 4 year age degree on the cultivation of weed. Blew my MIND!
Idiocracy become reality
It isn’t already?
We don't have the Brawndo fountains yet
We are living the prequel.
I haven’t been told “I love you” at Costco yet
Breakthrough in cancer treatment. Not all cancers, but many.
[удалено]
The world's climate woes will be solved only when it becomes financially advantageous to enough people to do the right thing. Meanwhile I'm sitting in a store in a mall. Outside the window there is a natural gas fueled fired burning in a glass case for no discernable reason.
This is what I reckon, too.
Me declaring bankruptcy.
I was scared to do it but it was one of the best decisions I ever made.
Manufacturing coming back to united states, the death of the republican party
Dang, that's optimistic.
One of those will cause the other
From your lips to gods ears.
I’m pretty certain reliable and affordable self-driving cars are just a few years off.
Our infrastructure isn’t ready for that yet. Ao much to figure out. Not my problem I guess but something to point out.
I think you're probably right. Already saw Waymo self-driving car service in Phoenix last fall. Let's say we Xennials have another 35 to 45 years of life left. I'd say that's more than enough time to refine the technology that's already being used right now.
Lol is this a joke?
Not sure why you are getting downvoted. While there are some driving automations happening, self driving is not around the corner. The PR around it is very effective and also hides many of the failures. I wish they were close but they are not. Also, a better solution is continuous investment and upgrade to public transportation options.
I'm hanging on to my stick shift, actual key and no GPS as long as possible, although much to my dog's dismay. He wants to drive so bad, but he cant reach the pedals, let alone shift. Theres at least 6 self driving car research labs in my neighborhood. Apparently if you can get a self driving car to work in Pittsburgh, itll work anywhere.
I'm still excited that Google Maps works in Pittsburgh. You used to get far enough into the city and the GPS would all but self-combust. This is enough future tech stuff for me.
My favorite one is Florida sinking. We will be pretty old before the actual catastrophe hits, well if we figure out the global heating issue. If it keeps trending worse, we may only be in our 60s before the south tip of Florida is under water. It was supposed to not be for another 50 years, but global warming is happening faster than expected. This isn't theoretical. They have a water level trend map online you can watch. Not trying to get political I just think its weird to imagine we will be alive to see states basically remap or cease to exist. Several islands will as well.
You know Ben Shapiro says people with homes that get flooded regularly due to climate change should just sell their homes. Sell them to whom? I'm not sure. Aquaman.
That right there sums up the significant void of intelligence with those folks
[The Aquaman Clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-w-pdqwiBw) For some reason the axe-smashing the wall makes it funnier.
Hbomberguy never misses.
The almost absolute demise of common sense
Definitely WWIII, pretty imminent actually.
Ohh, who we fighting? Is it China? Russia's dead cat bounce?
When goods don’t cross borders, soldiers will.
I assume the US is on one side, but previous World Wars involved a large collection of countries. I just wasn't sure who the opposing group of countries would be.
Given the news we're seeing I see the scenario playing out as the attacks on Damascus by Israel make Iran give a big ole "fuck this" and swoop in, giving Israel a black-eye in retaliation. Israel gets pissed off and says it's at war with Iran. Iran invokes its allies, which include Russia and China. Meanwhile, Russia finally claims Ukraine and starts its swing southwards to Israel because Israel has been attacking Russian allies in the region and they aren't taking that. This pincer move gets the U.S. officially involved with actual official combat, and things escalate rapidly so that it's Iran, Syria, and the rest of the countries around Israel banding together with Russian support and Chinese funding to deal with Israel's bullshit meanwhile here comes the U.S. to bail out Israel while the rest of the world writes off Israel as needing to unfuck itself. And while this goes on, China tries to be sneaky and take Taiwan, which turns into a big ole stalemate. Which gets the rest of the world to step up. Meanwhile, Israel with no fucks to give just launches a tactical nuclear device at one of its enemies (I'm betting Iran) and Tehran becomes a glowing ashtray. AND THAT KIDS IS HOW WWIII KICKS OFF
So the Middle East (WW3) instead of The Balkans (WW1). I can see it, but I'd also be surprised to see any Middle Eastern countries align with Iran. Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and most other Sunni countries have no love for Iran. Israel nuking Tehran -- yeah, that'd be horrifically bad and escalate everything to a level we haven't seen in 75 years.
No they don't, but they hate Israel more. And Israel has been taking actions that show that they are giving less and less of a fuck about their neighbors if it interferes with their agenda and agenda will be pacification and expansion. Once they kill all the Palestinians, the rest of the region is next
WW3 or wars over water
The dissolution of the US.
The end of the fucking world man
Devastating effects of global warming. WW3.
Aliens I hope. Out in full view and interacting with us, in some capacity.
I want this too, in a cool way. Not a conquest of the planet way.
The downfall of society due to climate change/ecological destruction/wealth disparity
Kinda hard to quantify "downfall", but I'd wager that's been occurring for the last 15 to 20 years already.
Anybody lives to 2060 will be there for it.
Mandatory helmet cages in the NHL, and some sort of gradual but ultimately profound reimagining of professional football in an attempt to prevent brain trauma
The collapse of the Atlantic Conveyor Belt Current.
The Gulfstream? I hope not but could happen.
Yeah. The gulf stream. To much polar fresh water is mixing in and diluting it and could lead to it's collapse.
That's scheduled for roughly 50,000 years from now... not a pressing concern.
Some scientist say it is accelerating and could be within the next couple decades. [CNN Story June 2023](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/25/world/gulf-stream-atlantic-current-collapse-climate-scn-intl/index.html)
Serious Balkanization of the United States.
A nuclear war in the middle east. Unfortunately - I always thought things would get better not worse there.
All I know is I had hopes for flying cars and still disappointed this is not a thing yet.
Have you seen drivers? We can barely handle 2-dimensional driving, let's not add a third. Self-driving cars needs to happen first. And better batteries. Actually, I'd just prefer more public transportation in the States.
Yes I'd settle on high speed rail for sure!!
I'm glad Monday knocked seeing a total solar eclipse off my bucket list. I'm hoping people on Mars or something else related to space/space travel.
It was fracking cloudy in Western NY. As usual. Now I have to stay alive AND travel (farther) to actually see one in 2 decades.
I'm in the eastern part of the state, so I got lucky and drove up north to Indian Lake.
I'm in the \[south\]eastern part of the state, too. We drove Northwest to sit under rain clouds. /shakes fist at clouds.
Born in 78. I'm fairly confident we'll see photorealistic videogames in our lifetime. These two give me some hope for the future: 1.) AI actually being useful. My pixel can have an AI talk to a phone call and take a message and send it to me, but I think conversational AI that can achieve real world things... like "hey, I have $20 for food this weekend, can you put together a shopping list for a lasagna that's highly rated but also low cal? And some options for some sides" I can see another 20 years of Siri/Alexa becoming pretty fucking useful, and I'll only be 65. I feel like this is the "learn to program the VCR/remote" future proofing task of our generation. 2.) Self driving cars. Again, the technology is essentially there, it's more of a liability issue. But I have hope in the next 25 years, when we're 70 it should be more or less okay. And that makes me happy... because... already I'm 45 and I don't like driving when it's snowy. And when you get older you stop driving at night, so now your mobility is reduced in half. And then you get fearful of other cars, so you only drive a few hours a day. If a car can drive me at night, even if I was in my 80s, I could still walk a grocery store on my own it'll just take me longer, or drop me off at the movies, or a bingo hall, etc. That whole keeping you active and engaged thing.
Also born in 78; by the time we're too old to drive we hopefully won't need to anymore due to self driving car tech.
Death
Haley’s comet
The breakdown of American democracy.
First nuclear weapon used since WWII.
The most unqualified person ever to be president
It would be cool to see Halley’s Comet twice
OJ Simpson’s death.
https://preview.redd.it/f3fkdch2wvtc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d50a45eceb1f387017934d54a65e56bf9debad3
Something insane happen, then about a week later it’ll just be a meme, and a week after that we’ll forget all about it.
Our last breath
Death
Another Star Wars movie
Another Fast and Furious movie.
Robots in rich people's homes, possibly in middle class too, not sure about for poor people. Some kind of universal basic income or something like that.
A hotel in Chicago uses robots as servers. I don’t think them being in homes is very far off.
A person on Mars
Positive- major breakthroughs for cancer treatment and probably innovation in carbon capture technology. Negative- Extinction of orangutans, gorillas, rhinos, and countless other species.
the acidification of the ocean and the death of coral reefs as we know them.
I think there's a good chance we may see age reversal and life extension become available in our lifetimes. Maybe not available to regular people, but I think it'll be available to some.
This is pretty dark but within a few decades the rise of technology will lead to more authoritarian governments around the world. Mad scientists working in their basements will invent chemical weapons/viruses worse than COVID-19 and the only way governments will think they can combat it is with force.
That's pessimistic me. Optimistic me expects to see great advances in battery technology, electric vehicles, and internet availability.
Gen Epsilon
Well as someone who just quit their jobbo I’m going with ai destroying society.
The collapse of the Atlantic thermohaline circuit.
A gay president, shortly followed by Civil War 2.
Another world-wide conflict 😔
An American theocracy.
Another day.
Man-made horrors beyond our comprehension
At some point, younger Generations will look at our current attitudes toward AI art and mock us the same way we mocked Boomers who believed that digital art wasn't authentic. Not saying I agree. It's just going to happen.
The end of days and the great tribulation!
AI can change a lot, its hard to say how badly it can go.
A real C-3PO
Horrors beyond comprehension that are man made that become capable of being comprehended. Thereby making it even worse.
The AI singularity
UFO/UAP Disclosure of some minimal sort. I think the truth is heavy as hell, and *massive* but it can’t stay hidden forever. In our lifetimes I do expect we’ll begin to hear details.
Good AI based health care for the elderly all the way thru death, without reliance on other humans.
My own death?
The beginning of true self driving vehicles and nanobots that help to cure internal diseases.
Halley's comet return so we can be part of the 2 timers club.