The year is Twenty-Fifty...

[NW2013]

Apologies if this has been discussed before, did a search but couldn't find anything. What technological/medical/general innovations would you like to see in this sort of time frame? My personal list would be:

- Successful power generation from nuclear fusion,
- Robots as useful as those on film/tv (I want a friend like Bender),
- Some sort of Matrix-like virtual construct-Internet type hybrid thing,
- Replaceable organs,
- Implantable tech/body upgrades,
- The discovery of the source of 'consciousness' and the ability to transfer it to a new body/robot or computer,
- Computer controlled vehicles - both car like and flying ones,
- AI able to perform some of the jobs people have today,
- Matter building machines/3D food 'printers' (like replicators on Star Trek really),
- Teleportation of humans (least likely in this time frame).

I really enjoy thinking about this sort of thing. There's a website (www.futuretimeline.net) that expands on some of these sorts of things. The Guardian released a book a few years back that had scientists writing individual pieces on the 'futures' in theor own areas of expertise but they've never released further versions.

I tried to read Ray Kurzweil's 'The Singularity Is Near' once but gave up after the first chapter as it was largely unreadable. However, I do subscribe to his theory that the longer you can keep yourself alive the greater the chances that your life will continue for a long time due to medical science, if that makes sense!

Shame there aren't more futurology sites on the web and that the ones that do exist are badly written and largely drivel.

[Nijo]

I tried to read Ray Kurzweil's 'The Singularity Is Near' once but gave up after the first chapter as it was largely unreadable. However, I do subscribe to his theory that the longer you can keep yourself alive the greater the chances that your life will continue for a long time due to medical science, if that makes sense!

I haven't read it, but I believe the singularity is pretty much defined by the point when self-replicating machines make an improved model of themselves which is smarter than humans. Then, assuming they're benevolent, the rate of new discoveries will turn exponential (which it already is... *more* exponential) until some point when we can't even comprehend how fast new technologies are being invented. The singularity.

If they're not benevolent they'll just kill us all.

[dataDave]

Nothing will change, I'm afraid. Some of your ideas are insta-fail because there isn't a market for them, nor will there ever be.

- We'll still be driving fuel driven cars that are land based (anything else would be too easy to load with bombs and fly into buildings, especially remotely).

- Poverty and starvation will still be rife (It has to be like that for people like you and me to live our 'structured' economy-driven lives).

- We'll still fear climate change, simply because nothing can be done about that unless we can control what happens with the sun.

- We'll still fear nuclear conflict between rogue nations (North Korea, Iran).

- We'll still gush over phones that have cameras and video players and MP3 players and other stuff on them, we will pay £4 rental fee to stream movies to them.

- There will be some new 'uber' 3D in the cinemas, maybe branded "4D" (lol).

- Graphics will get better, but gameplay will not.

I can go on and on, but it's depressing - would you like a wishlist from me instead? http://www.thevenusproject.com/

There's a reason why Tomorrow's World isn't on TV anymore.

[peeveen]

Unfortunately I agree with dataDave. Try 3050. Or actually, 30,050.

[Nijo]

LoL at the pessimism on the forum today. 40 years is a long time in technology; compare today with 1970 and 1970 with 1930.

It'll be £40 to rent a film btw.

[dataDave]

As for a singularity model, I like to think about a singularity in the human psyche rather than a technological one, there wouldn't be any need for the latter if the former was achieved.

Unfortunately too many dumb people rely on stuff invented by smart people to survive, and I'm one of them. Things are getting worse in my opinion and this is how technology is 'defeating' the human species, not through all out war like in Terminator, but attacking the laziness in our society and presenting itself as a savior. I work in education and I can see first hand how technology and the internet is replacing the need to actually use our brains in order to work things out. One millenia we're building pyramids with as much as our bare hands, the next we're being spoon-fed gloop by some robotic arm because we don't even need to get out of bed and reproduce.

It'll be £40 to rent a film btw.

If that was the case it should cost us £120 for a videogame today considering I spent £60 for Star Wars on the NES.

[dataDave]

The most frightening bit for me is I know I'm a numpty, but I'm definitely more intelligent than 95% of all the other people I meet.

[NW2013]

Totally welcome the debate dataDave and would like to hear your perceptions of where we'll be at that point. I think you're very wide of the mark in saying there is 'no market' for the things I've mentioned. Although I could imagine people with vested interests may be keen to see these things never happen.

[dataDave]

Totally welcome the debate dataDave and would like to hear your perceptions of where we'll be at that point. I think you're very wide of the mark in saying there is 'no market' for the things I've mentioned. Although I could imagine people with vested interests may be keen to see these things never happen.

I don't know though mate, if something drastic happened such as the fall of the world economy we will have no choice but to take a lot of those ideas on board.

The fiscal system is one huge pyramid scheme - for every three people getting rich there are six becoming poor. Systems like that can't last forever, and when it all falls over no one is going to go back to drilling out oil if no one has any money to buy any.

All of your ideas are possible, if the human mind can think of something it's only a matter of time before it's manifested as reality, there's little dispute about that, but not in the system we have running unfortuantely.

[MisterBubbles]

Teleportation of humans (least likely in this time frame). This one will not be possible in the next 40 years, as we have no full theory of QED, and so trying to teleport people without understanding where the particles would end up and one missing particle or molecule goes missing and your body would degenerate into nothing. This is even before thinking of try to build such a machine or what powers it.

[charlesr]

Teleportation of a single atom has already been performed. However the power needed to do it makes teleporting humans rather prohibitive!

[spagmasterswift]

I'd like to see a global system of interconnected computer networks.

[112]

Two words Carbon footprint, if the Governments plans for the future of housing goes according to plan, we will be living carbon neutral housing in the not too distant future - which would drastically change the UK and the world to some extent.

I don't think our lives will be drastically different, as the findamentals will still be the same, albeit done slightly different. I do believe that the human population will continue to grow, even with the increase of natural disaster occuring around the world.

Technological advances are not as hard to predict as a lot companies have R&D departments thats are probably working on technology that is 10 - 20 years ahead, if not further. I may be wrong in thinking this but I think Technology is held back by the economy as a whole. When we as a society lose/evolve out of the value in money (kinda like star trek in a way) we will focus more on achieving things less superficial and more beneficial to mankind.

Then again, maybe im talking bollocks and our greed will consume us all

112

[Spatial]

All I want before I snuff it is a mechanised suit of some kind.

Preferably something with flight capability and a massive chain gun. But I'm not fussy - integrated Plasma Sword would also be acceptable.

[NW2013]

I'd like to see a global system of interconnected computer networks.

Now that's just crazy talk!