Where in the world in...

2033! What do you think the World will be like?

Do you remember what life was like before Google? No? This was only fifteen years back!

Ok, How about life before Wifi?

How long can you go without your smartphone?

Remember Maps? – Not the app on your phone but the large paper ones that are folded multiple times to make them ‘less’ unwieldy, the ones that once unfolded could never be put back again.

I came across a really interesting post on Forbes that I want to share here - thoughts from the game changers themselves about technology and education and living in 2033.

Ray Kurzweil on Technology: Quoting the man who’s been called ‘the ultimate thinking machine’,

We will be online all the time in virtual / augmented reality. We won’t be looking at devices such as tablets and phones. Rather, computer displays will be fully integrated with real reality. Three-dimensional pop ups in your visual field of view will give background information about the people you see, even a tip that someone just smiled at you while you weren’t looking.

Search engines won’t wait for you to ask for information. They will know you like a friend and will be aware of your concerns and interests at a detailed level. So it will pop up periodically and offer something like “You’ve expressed concern about Vitamin B12 getting into your cells, here’s new research from four seconds ago that provides a new approach to doing that.” You’ll be able to talk things over with your computer, clarifying your needs and requests just like you’re talking with a human assistant.

This is what Khan Academy has to say on Education in 2033:

“Global Access: In twenty years, almost everyone on the planet will have access to the world’s best educational materials. Almost every subject will be available for free online. A child in Mongolia would be able to learn anything from Algebra to String Theory to Greek History.
Competency-based credentials: Students will be able to prove what they know, not by seat-time, but with competency-based credentials. An out-of-work 40 year old would not need to go back to school and pile up thousands of dollars of debt before employers took him seriously. Instead, he would be able to take an accounting course online for free, prove what he knows, and get a job.

Can you imagine what these will do to all our social interactions – An interviewer will be looking at the candidate and his social page simultaneously. No time to go back and tweak your facebook page. But maybe you could do that virtually as well. No more dating disasters, you would know your date’s disapproval before even she does. No more piling on student debt for a degree from a "target" school.

And if you believe Virgin Atlantic, we will be traveling to space for our vacations!

Here's a link to the complete post.

What do you think? Can you Imagine the World in 2033?

 

It's hard to say. I don't think the world changes radically in 20 years typically. I think you'll see slow evolution just like we've seen the last 250 years or so (prior to that you often saw little to no evolution in technology). Sometimes it's slower, sometimes faster.

Realistically, the biggest change we'll see in our everyday lives is in our mode of transportation. By 2020, Google believes its autonomous vehicle will be commercially viable. By 2030, autonomous vehicles will be revolutionizing the American transportation system as our infrastructure needs will fundamentally change. We'll still be using gasoline engines, but the usage of fuel will be highly efficient as it'll be regulated by a computer. The need for wider roads will be lessened considerably. Public transportation will be in lower demand when commutes aren't as nightmarish, roads aren't as dangerous, and a car can drop off its passenger and park itself.

Computers and technology will be even more integrated into our lives, but it's hard to say how exactly. The Forbes author assumes either an implant or wide usage of something similar to Google glasses. I'm not sold on the need/want/desire/attractiveness of wearing computer glasses around town. I'm not fully convinced that's a fashion statement that will stick around when most of the information we would want or need is on our smartphone in our pocket or purse.

As in the last 20 years, medical science will be slowly progressing, but I don't think most people will notice a huge difference between 2013 and 2033, although a cognizant person would recognize a fundamental difference between 1993 and 2033 the way we see the advancements between 1973 and 2013.

 

I think that predictions about the future have almost always proven themselves wrong. The future has usually been more surprising both in good ways and bad than most people could predict.

  • Something good: technology really did continue halving in price and doubling in power. We went from listening to vinyl's at friend's houses to messaging single songs to each other through our telephones in under 20 years.

  • A positive outcome to a negative possibility: the US and USSR never saw cold-war era combat outside of proxy wars, and no nuclear weapon has been used on a foreign government by any country since 1945.

  • In a less-than-positive spin on something that was really positive: people believed in 1969 that we'd have colonized the moon by 2000 at the latest. I'd be surprised if we had any meaningful presence there by 2050.

  • And ongoing plight we should have eradicated by now: the continued suffering of poor people across the globe, the undying spectre of weapons of mass destruction, and the irreversible (and nearly unstoppable) environmental damage done to our planet.

It goes without saying that trying to predict the future is an exercise in futility. BUT, what we do know is that unfortunately, optimists are usually wrong, and that thankfully, pessimists are too. The middle road and the often unthought-of outcomes tend to be what make up our history.

My prediction for the very near future:

  • Brief armed conflict in Asia (China v Japan, by proxy: US v Russia, further proxy: Korea v PRK), signaling a change in foreign influence with a shift away from Japan.

  • The internet becomes "everywhere." Data flows fully integrate themselves with technology, and everything we create is shaped by the knowledge that information is accessible 100% of the time.

  • Humanitarian crises lead to a new consortium, organization, or campaign to help people in need. This could be catalyzed by anything: disease, war, economic hardship, and may take the shape of anything as well: a new "Red Cross," a "peace war," medical breakthroughs worldwide, etc.

  • Traditional world powers change: Japan loses influence in Asia, China becomes the economic "boss," Europe loses more economic clout, Russia regains lost military influence.

  • Something may happen with the Korean peninsula. Best case: north collapses either economically or through armed conflict, and is slowly annexed by the south. Worst case: any case of armed conflict that doesn't result in the dissolution of the Kim regime.

Thought provoking question OP. +1 lol.

in it 2 win it
 
FSC:
  • Traditional world powers change: Japan loses influence, China becomes the economic "boss," Europe loses more economic clout, Russia regains lost influence.

The "China will be the new economic boss" prediction is the one that I'm almost positive will fall flat on its face. It's such an obvious prediction made by many for at least a decade, but I don't think China has the intellectual, cultural or bureaucratic infrastructure to ever make this happen under the current regime. So long as intellectual property theft is rampant, the rule of law is arbitrary, and Chinese culture is geographically limited to China and to Anglicized versions of its food I don't see The People's Republic truly taking control of global economics. Its greatest economic power right now is in its cheap, de-humanized workforce. That doesn't bode well for the future, IMHO.

The United States, on the other hand, became THE economic power through its cultural influence (i.e. Hollywood), its (once) dominant place in high end manufacturing, its university system, its monopoly on being the world's "reserve" currency, its military victories (i.e. WWII), its political influence (i.e. at the UN, IMF/World Bank, NATO, etc.) and its military control/influence over energy rich geographies (i.e. its control of world oil). Nations don't become transcendent economic powers because of their cheap labor and large populations.

 
Best Response
DCDepository:
FSC:
  • Traditional world powers change: Japan loses influence, China becomes the economic "boss," Europe loses more economic clout, Russia regains lost influence.

The "China will be the new economic boss" prediction is the one that I'm almost positive will fall flat on its face. It's such an obvious prediction made by many for at least a decade, but I don't think China has the intellectual, cultural or bureaucratic infrastructure to ever make this happen under the current regime. So long as intellectual property theft is rampant, the rule of law is arbitrary, and Chinese culture is geographically limited to China and to Anglicized versions of its food I don't see The People's Republic truly taking control of global economics. Its greatest economic power right now is in its cheap, de-humanized workforce. That doesn't bode well for the future, IMHO.

The United States, on the other hand, became THE economic power through its cultural influence (i.e. Hollywood), its (once) dominant place in high end manufacturing, its university system, its monopoly on being the world's "reserve" currency, its military victories (i.e. WWII), its political influence (i.e. at the UN, IMF/World Bank, NATO, etc.) and its military control/influence over energy rich geographies (i.e. its control of world oil). Nations don't become transcendent economic powers because of their cheap labor and large populations.

You're absolutely right - I meant to say that China might overcome Japan as the preeminent economic and political force of the Asian region. This could be wrong too.

But you're very right about China not becoming a global power like the US any time soon; even if that does materialize, it will take a LONG time to happen, and it will have to be preluded by (obviously) a huge decline in American power, which I don't see happening in the "near" future at all.

in it 2 win it
 
DCDepository:
FSC:
  • Traditional world powers change: Japan loses influence, China becomes the economic "boss," Europe loses more economic clout, Russia regains lost influence.

The "China will be the new economic boss" prediction is the one that I'm almost positive will fall flat on its face. It's such an obvious prediction made by many for at least a decade, but I don't think China has the intellectual, cultural or bureaucratic infrastructure to ever make this happen under the current regime. So long as intellectual property theft is rampant, the rule of law is arbitrary, and Chinese culture is geographically limited to China and to Anglicized versions of its food I don't see The People's Republic truly taking control of global economics. Its greatest economic power right now is in its cheap, de-humanized workforce. That doesn't bode well for the future, IMHO.

The United States, on the other hand, became THE economic power through its cultural influence (i.e. Hollywood), its (once) dominant place in high end manufacturing, its university system, its monopoly on being the world's "reserve" currency, its military victories (i.e. WWII), its political influence (i.e. at the UN, IMF/World Bank, NATO, etc.) and its military control/influence over energy rich geographies (i.e. its control of world oil). Nations don't become transcendent economic powers because of their cheap labor and large populations.

Read this book, if you haven't yet....you will love it: http://www.amazon.com/Next-100-Years-Forecast-Century/dp/0767923057
 
FSC:
I think that predictions about the future have almost always proven themselves wrong. The future has usually been more surprising both in good ways and bad than most people could predict.

Agreed. I think that robots/androids/synthetic intelligence are going to be significantly more common in the future, particularly in replacing humans in dangerous environments such as war zones. This prototype is incredible -

But, in relation to OP's Ray Kurzweil quote, this book is brilliant - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_(Anderson_novel)

 

A few of my thoughts. 1.) A literally comical level of inflation 2.) A significantly less competent population (idiocracy) 3.) An absurd amount of Asians 4.) A more level wealth distribution 5.) Two hand touch NFL 6.) The resurgence of the Twinkie 7.) A Bering Strait bridge and/or tunnel either completed or a WIP 8.) A complete disappearance of "Winter" (RIP skiing)

 

this is a good question and interesting posts. It will be hard to predict because we are what is known as the hyper acceleration phase. If you look at how things evolved over the past 50 years and with technology that rate is going only faster. But there will be a greater point where we stop using technology to entertain us rather it will integrate with the rest of our senses for reality. It will essentially be the 6th sense (http://www.ted.com/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html) With the rate of technology becoming redundant, cheaper and depreciating (within 6-12 months you have a newer version or improvement that can beat the previous version) and with the integration within other daily products (cars will have cloud computing as well as homes) then you can really see that in 20+ years it will be hard to predict. It's like a linear chart but the plataeu will eventually have to come and THAT will be an interesting period of life. Someone mentioned Wall-E movie, yeah its a animation but it does give a very interesting perspective to what can happen. Greater accessibility to information but for the whole world and that will change the playing field drastically. But just as it has changed so rapidly for the previous couple of generations, so too will it play out for your generation. Enjoy the curve monkeys :)

 

I hope none of this happens. Technology scares me. I already shudder when I go to a restaurant and see a family of four -- three on iPhones and the smallest kid on an iPad virtually (no pun intended) the entirety of dinner. Talking, or even calling through the phone, is a lost art...funny they said that about letters 5-10 years ago.

 

Kurzweil has an implied interest in his predictions happening. He is more hoping that being objective.

Valor is of no service, chance rules all, and the bravest often fall by the hands of cowards. - Tacitus Dr. Nick Riviera: Hey, don't worry. You don't have to make up stories here. Save that for court!
 
LancelotLink:
Keep in mind Back to the Future 2 also took place in 2015...

"Those hoverboards don't work on water unless you have powahhh"

classic! one of my fave..

 

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