by Martin Dower
Big questions eh? As we hit a quarter of the way through the 21st century – and I hit the big six oh – looking back over the last 25 years has seen pretty momentous change. Mostly for the good.
The rise of the internet, smartphones, and social media on the plus side – whilst on debit side of the ledger we’ve got climate change, wars, wealth inequality, and toxic social media.
Computers didn’t have viruses, live attached to us 24×7, nor threaten to wipe out humanity through dodgy prompt engineering. We had only just survived the terrifying (not really) millennium bug. Computers, for those that used then, were ugly, sat on desks, and dull.
It’s sure gone quickly, and much of it under the radar, really. Today’s primary concerns in life would seem so alien to our 25 years younger selves – issues such as wi-fi/5G access, device battery life, losing your job to robots, EV range anxiety, Insta-addiction, and cost of living and housing.
But, let’s take a slightly playful look at what life might look like at this century’s midpoint.
- For a start … will we still be here? Or will a handful of unconnected edge communities surviving in a substitence manner be the thing?
- Does China become the predominant economy in the world? Or India? Or Nigeria? Or Indonesia. Or, possibly the US holds on, maybe?
- What will the climate look and behave like? Will we tame weather systems? Will Wales produce a nice Cabernet Sauvignon?
- How will the current collapsing birthrate screw the world? What will the world’s demography look like?
- Will economic migration become the norm? Will it still focus on the anglophile world?
- Will anyone vote? Does liberal democracy hang-on? If not, what replaces it? Is globalisation dead? Who holds the political elite to account?
- When does social mobility get sacrificed on the alter of billionaires egos? How big will the income inequality gap be?
- Will being poor still handicap you more than being an immigrant? Or black?
- How much will ubiquitous AI and Quantum Computing distort, accelerate (or dampen) the future? Who are the victims and who are the protagonists?
- Will the world’s controlling bodies – EU, NATO, UN, WHO, IMF, WEF, OPEC – still be in the boss seats?
- Will we populate another world? Or even put a human being on another planet? Or, are we doomed to live in tin cans orbiting uninhabitable worlds.
- Could we live forever – not physically but as non-corporeal entities?
- Will everyone live in smart mega-cities? Or rural communities in Greenland? But, probably not in LA by choice.
- Fusion? Will the cost of energy approach zero?
- Will we still work or even go to the office? Or will ASI remove that need? 3-day working week? Or working till you’re 80?
- I’m a Brit .. where will the old European orders be in the world pecking order?
- Will anyone have found a commercial use case for widespread adoption of virtual reality?
- Will aliens will finally land, take one look at us, and immediately ask to see the manager?
- How much will steak & chips cost? Will anyone even eat meat? Will my local pub still be open?
- As a rich, white Gen Xer with a SIPP/401k do I really need to care? Who will wipe my bum?
Now, grab your iPhone 16 and ask ChatGPT to give you 100 words on each of these question, turn them into a crappy TikTok, and bathe in the reflective glory of your five hundred strong echo-chamber. Pah.
All opinions and the crusty attitude comes only from me, the nearly 60 year-old founder of Connected.
