Thread: The Future: What Will It Be Like?

Nobody has any idea what the future will be like. We can speculate all we want, but nobody really knows. For all we know space travel is impossible and humanity will live and die on this eventually God-forsaken rock.

Have you seen Astro Boy, The Jetsons or any of those old movies set in the early 2000s? They thought there would be flying robots and cars and spaceships everywhere.

Meh.

Obama: Does a good job with the economy, but is not re-elected by fickle voting public. Maybe Ron Paul? Palin? McCain? Some undiscovered Republican?

Islamic terrorism:

Bin Laden wastes away in a cave somewhere. The cause loses its figurehead and he can't be effectively martyred. The movement starts to die out. Maybe we can expect a last chance attempt at a coup from them which could be potentially deadly.

North Korea:

Either decides to blindly fire on West Coast USA after being told to discontinue its nuclear program, or develops targeting, at which point, they'd be told to stand down. Either way, we get a missile crisis, fairly similar to the one with Cuba (in that we'll want to avoid violence but time restrictions won't be beneficial to politics)

The crazy bastards either stand down due to excellent diplomacy under the gun by the losers at the White House, or fire. Suppose they fire, we target the missile, knock it out of the air, counter-strike, blow Korea off the map.

Don't know what would happen then, I'm assuming there'd be a political freezing-over of Hell because nuking a tiny nation until shit leaks from their microwaved pants doesn't look very good, especially from the US, who already look like warmongers IMO.

Economy:

Maybe a market crash, if not, we certainly get close, at which point, it rebounds and continues its cycle.

Earthquakes:

All of the overdue supermassive earthquakes hit simultaneously, killing us all. (in other words, I don't know and I'm going to leave it in the lap of the gods)

Asteroids:

From what I hear, we can effectively nudge an asteroid such that it misses Earth. I think we're fine.

Solar Shift:

I hope it doesn't release an EMP and fry every circuitboard on the planet.

Pandemic:

Swine flu scares the shit out of me.

Global Warming:

Polar caps melt until salinity is displaced enough to raise the freezing point. Polar caps refreeze and cycle continues. I die and it stops being my problem. Also, Al Gore falls through ice while collecting core samples in Antarctica and freezes to death in the supposedly high ocean temperature. That'll teach the bastard.

Philadelphia:

Phillies, Eagles and Flyers simultaneously win their respective championships.(the Sixers will never win anything, I won't even joke by saying they will) Philadelphia descends into riots and anarchy. By an act of God, a cavern opens up beneath the city, swallowing it forever.

Yeah. That's all I could think of for now.

Originally Posted by Lord Bennington

Meh.

North Korea:

Either decides to blindly fire on West Coast USA after being told to discontinue its nuclear program, or develops targeting, at which point, they'd be told to stand down. Either way, we get a missile crisis, fairly similar to the one with Cuba (in that we'll want to avoid violence but time restrictions won't be beneficial to politics)

The crazy bastards either stand down due to excellent diplomacy under the gun by the losers at the White House, or fire. Suppose they fire, we target the missile, knock it out of the air, counter-strike, blow Korea off the map.

Don't know what would happen then, I'm assuming there'd be a political freezing-over of Hell because nuking a tiny nation until shit leaks from their microwaved pants doesn't look very good, especially from the US, who already look like warmongers IMO.

samples in Antarctica and freezes to death in the supposedly

Yeah. That's all I could think of for now.

A more effective solution to nuking them is to simply conventionally attack them. The USA would be completley justified in attacking, and would garner the support of most if not all of its allies plus the UN; if combined air and navy forces took out critical targets such as airfields and oil depots, and of course any missiles. Then land forces (with support) could take it without an unnacceptable amount of deaths. Don't forget that the US has a sizeable military force in South Korea- it could be a perfect launching ground for a combined assault.

I personally think that if we took out the leadership of North Korea, then the people would not put up a fight. They don't have much reason to fight at all besides the threat of death.

Originally Posted by Good as Gold

A more effective solution to nuking them is to simply conventionally attack them. The USA would be completley justified in attacking, and would garner the support of most if not all of its allies plus the UN; if combined air and navy forces took out critical targets such as airfields and oil depots, and of course any missiles. Then land forces (with support) could take it without an unnacceptable amount of deaths. Don't forget that the US has a sizeable military force in South Korea- it could be a perfect launching ground for a combined assault.

I personally think that if we took out the leadership of North Korea, then the people would not put up a fight. They don't have much reason to fight at all besides the threat of death.

What I'm hearing is, "Why don't we start a land war in Asia? The people will greet us as liberators!"

Originally Posted by Good as Gold

A more effective solution to nuking them is to simply conventionally attack them. The USA would be completley justified in attacking, and would garner the support of most if not all of its allies plus the UN; if combined air and navy forces took out critical targets such as airfields and oil depots, and of course any missiles. Then land forces (with support) could take it without an unnacceptable amount of deaths. Don't forget that the US has a sizeable military force in South Korea- it could be a perfect launching ground for a combined assault.

I personally think that if we took out the leadership of North Korea, then the people would not put up a fight. They don't have much reason to fight at all besides the threat of death.

Originally Posted by Taosaur

What I'm hearing is, "Why don't we start a land war in Asia? The people will greet us as liberators!"

I gotta admit, that plan sounds suspiciously similar what Bush told us about Iraq, with the exception that Korea actually does have WMDs.

Originally Posted by ninja9578

I gotta admit, that plan sounds suspiciously similar what Bush told us about Iraq, with the exception that Korea actually does have WMDs.

It kind of makes sense: if we take our two biggest military blunders and roll them into one, maybe we can do something really impressive.

Originally Posted by Taosaur

What I'm hearing is, "Why don't we start a land war in Asia? The people will greet us as liberators!"

Assuming they fire the first shot, I think it'd be perfectly justified, and most other nations would at least lend some support. And its a land war in North Korea, which pretty much everyone hates anyway, where the people are horribly oppressed, and where, due to the brutality of their leaders, are forced to obey. If we killed leaders they would be nothing but grateful. At least I would think so..

Originally Posted by Good as Gold

Assuming they fire the first shot, I think it'd be perfectly justified, and most other nations would at least lend some support. And its a land war in North Korea, which pretty much everyone hates anyway, where the people are horribly oppressed, and where, due to the brutality of their leaders, are forced to obey. If we killed leaders they would be nothing but grateful. At least I would think so..

The most famous of the "classic blunders" mentioned by Vizzini in the Princess Bride - "never get involved in a land war in Asia" - was reputedly advice given by General Douglas MacArthur to President John F. Kennedy, in 1961. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...8225807AAXsURR

It's not about the justification, but the rate of attrition. The home team advantage throughout Asia is enormous, and nowhere moreso than Korea, which has been a battlefield between China and Japan for millennia and where we've already had our ass handed to us once. The inevitable insurgency would make Iraq and Afghanistan look like a tea party (that's right: a contrived and ineffectual political demonstration).

Originally Posted by Lord Bennington

Philadelphia:

Phillies, Eagles and Flyers simultaneously win their respective championships.(the Sixers will never win anything, I won't even joke by saying they will) Philadelphia descends into riots and anarchy. By an act of God, a cavern opens up beneath the city, swallowing it forever.

Haha, yes!

Honestly, though, peak production of oil was/is predicted as (depending on who you ask) sometime from now to 2035. If we adjust and replace it quickly enough with alternative energy, were fine. Otherwise, we're all screwed.

i think the future is looking good. we may end up going through some trials and tribulations, but it has to get worse before it gets better.

I think techno-utopia is a future that's possible for us....likely if there is a global consciousness shift.

Lucid dreaming and advancements in science and technology.

Originally Posted by HaRd_WiReD

Well with the way things are going now?......

The year is 2015. The dollar is no more. There's been a major reduction in world population after World War 3. Martial Law is implemented. There are no longer social classes...only filthy-rich and poor. There's a one-world government, one world e-currency, and one religion. The whole world is under complete tyranny.

There will basically be three types of people.

The slaves that work under the elitists..or system. There is no escaping, since they will be micro chipped.

The hiders..who are basically living life without the government sustaining on their own. ( These are the smart one's, the one's that prepared when they awoken from the "matrix") I mind as well change the word government...the government is a mere memory....this is more like the "elitists"..the one's with the power

Then there's the Resistance, which would basically be a bunch of armed Patriots, Ak-47's, dugout shelters, something like the terminator salvation, but there won't be machines...it'll be the military. They'll have their own territory and their own guards...its inevitable this group exists, too many people want to fight for freedom. Their territory is guarded and hidden from the Elitists. They'll be doing their own thing to overthrow the Elitists...or the "System" ( targeting gaslines, etc. shit like that ).

All those material possessions are simply a memory. At this point complete Dystopia. And everyone is just trying to survive.

There was an excellent video on youtube that played this scenario out...DAMN..i forgot the name of it though.

Originally Posted by HaRd_WiReD

i think the future is looking good. we may end up going through some trials and tribulations, but it has to get worse before it gets better.

I think techno-utopia is a future that's possible for us....likely if there is a global consciousness shift.

Lucid dreaming and advancements in science and technology.

Interesting...

Hah.

Deery you actually SEARCHED through my posts to find that..

wow. You have NO life....LOL

Originally Posted by Black_Eagle

Have you seen Astro Boy, The Jetsons or any of those old movies set in the early 2000s? They thought there would be flying robots and cars and spaceships everywhere.

That's true. There were the 1968 movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, its 1984 sequel 2010: The Year We Make Contact and the mid-70's T.V. show Space 1999. We are behind the old public expectations, but I think we are not that far behind. We have landed a remote control robot on Mars and have space stations orbiting Earth right now. An enormous international space station is being built. Think of all of the awesome stuff that was invented in the 1900's. If we can keep inventing at the same pace, I think we will have large populations living in space before 2050. We might not be able to settle planets outside of our solar system, but I think we will probably figure out some kind of way to manipulate space and time to pull it off. If not, there is a strong chance we can transform the atmospheres of planets/satellites in our solar system to make the planets inhabitable. I really don't think the humans are going away.

Boy, I sure hope. There is that one ice moon around Saturn or Venus. And if fast space travel doesn't pull through there's still inter dimensional travel to consider. There's too many possibilities not to think that perhaps one day we'll get out of here. I don't think we're going to move large populations into space. What would be the point?

Originally Posted by Black_Eagle

I don't think we're going to move large populations into space. What would be the point?

A very, very long time from now, the sun is going to become a red giant and pull Earth into it. We have to figure something out before then. We have a while.

China will surpass the US as the economic leader fo the world within ten years.
Terrorists will attack the US again in 5.
Republicans and UM will blame Obama for the terrorist attack.
I'll get drunk some night and try to find a patter to UM's avatar.
Iraq will be a dictatorship within 10 years of the US withdrawl, the US won't care.
SETI will discover intelligent life within 50 years.
White people will be the a minority within 30 years.
Oil will run out in 50 years.
Greenland will unleash it's stored up cold water and disrupt the midatlantic current, sending Europe into a minor ice age within 100 years.
The north pole will not have ice on it ever again within 50 years.
Manhattan will be under water in 100 years.
Nothing will happen on Dec 12 2012.
I will ban at least 3 people for 2012 conspiracy claims even after I post a stick that SB is the place for that.
Cuba will be legal to visit and become a thriving tourist spot within 15 years.
Creationism will be taught as equal to evolution in the south for the next 50 years.
Gay rights will not be honoured in the south for the next 50 years.
Women's rights will not be honoured in the south for the next 100 years.
Both Dick Cheney and George Bush will be in prison within 3 years for war crimes as well as the former head of the CIA.
Paris Hilton will die in a gutter due to a drug overdose.
The Cusp will own DV in 3 years.
Clairity's hug thread will have over a million views in 3 years.
Iraq will be seen as the biggest military failure since Vietnam.
Man Of Steel will come out of the closet in 2 years.
China will land a man on the moon within 15 years.
Microsoft will become a fleeting memory 3 years after Windows 7 is released.
Apple will dominate the computer market until Steve Jobs dies of cancer
IBM will release computers utilizing quantum RAM within 8 years.
RFID chips will replace credit cards as the major source of money in the northeast and europe in 10 years.
Texas will attempt to leave the US after another democrat is elected in 2016.
A computer virus will wipe out most of the world's computers and servers within 10 years.
When using the Edit function, Dreamviews will still say "Vote Now" instead of "Save"
The Simpsons will still be on TV in 20 years.
Family Guy will still be on TV in 10 years.
Bill O'Reily will still think he's the reason Fox does so well.

Southerners will be declared a race, which will officially make Ninja a racist.
Ninja will do some really good acid and come to the mind blowing realization that every person is a unique individual and that stereotypes are a result of simple minded thinking.
Democrats will continue to hate Republicans for pushing for the war in Iraq to continue and for standing against gay marriage but will continue to worship Obama even though he does the same.
China will surpass the U.S. as the world economic superpower, but only because they kept embracing capitalism more and more, proving yet again that capitalism is the way to go.
Ninja will run the 800 meters in the 2012 Olympics, but he will represent Cuba and wave an an upside down American flag after he recieves a participation ribbon.
Terrorists will attack the U.S. again after Obama's plan of giving cupcakes to captured terrorists has 0 instances of getting pending attack information out of them.
Bill O'Reilly will start putting pictures of guests on his show while he talks instead of having them appear live after he realizes that he might as well be doing that if he is going to constantly interrupt and talk over guests.
Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter will realize that the market has shifted to where they can make more money being liberals and will become loud liberals.
Iraq will be the third wealthiest nation in the world within 50 years, and Afghanistan will be the fourth.
The Obama presidency will make Jimmy Carter look like Ronald Reagan.
Pot will be legal within twenty years.
I will buy this site from Asher within five years.

No one will every make carter look as bad as reagan, remember carter won a nobel prize for his commitment to peace.

It's not racist if it's true. Legalize gay rights and women's rights in the south then i'll consider them as progressive as the rest of the country.

The earth will be all right, and we'll largely get ourselves under control. The benefits and complexity of international trade will reinforce and spread the peace. Both power and wealth will get more spread out due to the increasing flow of information and the networks arising to harness it, which initially confer advantage to those outside existing power structures. Social networking will be more important than we think.

The United States and Europe will continue a shift toward sustainability and conservation, and eventually they will profit from exporting that technology and expertise to India and China. Immigration to the USA and Europe will be primarily Muslim, and relations with the Muslim world will improve apace. World population will continue to level out.

The big wild cards in terms of peace are Russia, which is still full of nationalism and wounded pride, and radicalized idealogues in the USA, both isolationist militia types and and anti-corporate environmentalist purists.

Barring First Contact or significant evidence of extraterrestrial life, space is not likely to become a priority for a long, long time. Everyone wants to visit, but nobody wants to live there.

I predict America is going to merge with Mexico and Canada. The whole NWO/NAFTA scandal.

The economy is going to get a lot worse in North America. More jobs will be lost and/or outsourced. This will make the military seem like a good job decision for many American citizens. Once in the military, the people will go through their mass-brainwashing in basic training. They'll end up even more nationalistic, and regimented than before. And of course since they're in the military, they really have no say about anything that goes on in their lives and/or the rest of America since they took an oath to uphold orders from all commanding officers.

Basically there will be another world war, this one initiated by the American government and it's allies; of course, under the false pretext that China, Russia, Pakistan, N. Korea or Iran has forced us to go to war. The public will be more open to go war, because most of us are in the military. This will in turn create more jobs and boost our economy. We'll start with "cleaning up" the Middle East for the rest of its oil. Move into China and N. Korea, and give them the "American Freedom" of democracy.

Somewhere along the line, the Greys will make their presence known. The world will come together as one to stand up and fight against the alien forces that have promised to control and enslave the human population.

I'm just rambling. Someone kindly tell me why I'm wrong.