What Will Define the Next Century?

[Ivan Seeking]

What events do you see as likely to define the next one hundred years? In other words, what are your predictions for the geopolitics of this century?

What role will technology play? What role will religion play? Will WWIII happen; if you think so, when and why will it happen? Will mankind suffer global disaster through biological or chemical warfare? Will the world emerge one day mostly free of war, hunger, and poverty, and or will technology drive us to a world of two widely separated classes? Will we see a one-world religion? Will global warming destroy or mame economies and reduce the living standards dramatically?

With the emphasis on the political ramifications of any influences that you wish to consider, what do you expect the world to be like in one hundred years?

 

[Mattius_]

Terrorists will sooner than later claim millions of lives with a nuke or a bio weapon. Its getting too hard to keep nukes from every thug on the block, sooner or later a radical will get ahold of one, and have a reason to use it.

Global warming = not so much of a problem, I think genetically modified foods technology will be able to easily bend with the changing climates.

Expect this century to be the century of China.

Free energy will be discovered this century. This could quite possibly lead to world peace.

Just my guesses

 

[Janitor]

I am buying Mattius's first three predictions. I would have to know more about his fourth before I could assent or dissent.

Moore's Law on the progress of computing power will finally hit the wall.

 

[Entropy]

Overall I think the world is slowly going down hill. But then again a lot of my predictions of the future are tided with my religious beliefs. Sorry but I see a lot of Biblical prophecies coming true.

I'll spare you guys the scriptural quotes and apocalyptic predictions, seeing how some people might not find it approprate, and simply tell you want I have derived from it. Yeah, I know a lot of people are going to call me arrogant but this is what I see happening and I have my reasons for believing this that I can't go indepth about.

1. I'll try to put this one as best I can, sorry if it sounds confusing. The conflicting [false] religious right and the non-believing governments and rights will destroy each other as they attempt to live together. Take for example abortions, gay-marriage or displaying the ten commandments in a court house. Extremists on both sides ruin it for everyone. What does this mean? Governments that are absolutely neutral religiously/philosphically will eventually fall.

2. They will be hard times ahead and their will be great wars, but humanity will never completely die off. The world will die, but not the Earth.

3. In the next one hundred years great, good, intelligent men will contribute fantastic technologies for the good of man-kind, only to see them used by the stupid and wicked. Example: Einstein helping develop the atomic bomb and then regreting it. To me this is the one thing I worry about if I become a scientist and develop significant things for the world.

4. The Middle East will continue to create problems for the rest of the world and people still won't learn to just leave it be. I think Israel is going to continue to create a lot of problems on a global scale.

5. Sooner or later some wako is going to get their hands on a nuclear/biological weapon and use it. The result could be confusion and trigger a nasty war/conflict.

6. Bill Gates will unleash his hoard of robots against the US government but will fail due to a software glitch. :tongue2:

Hmm... Do I sould like Notradomas or what?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

That's cool but please base your comments on current world events and calculated best guesses if you need to reference the source. Please do not de-rail the thread with any discussion biblical prophecy. If you see evidence that supports your biblical beliefs, please stick to the evidence and a reasonable extrapolation of that evidence.

 

[Dissident Dan]

I think that if things aren't kept under check, there will be big conflict between huge multinationals and the people that they're screwing over.

 

[Gokul43201]

Quantum Computing may become a reality. well you and I may not own a QC but you can bet the NSA and GCHQ and whoever else has the moolah will get themselves a few. Then RSA or any other form of conventional encryption may go down the tube. We will not be able to buy things over the internet, but this will be the equivalent of cutting off bodyparts...so there's possibly something interesting going to happen as a result !

Solar Energy usage will be widespread but insufficient. Nuclear energy production will go up slightly. Hydrogen fuel will be implemented in automobiles, and maybe in industry. Oil will be found in Alaska. Cars will not fly. Nor will jetpacks be common. But commercial space flight will become cheaper and more popular and all the billionaires would have done it.

Politically, I foresee one or two big changes in Asia - India and Pakistan will probably find common ground on the Kashmir issue and be more civil towards each other. I can't be as optimistic about Isael and Palestine - despite greater international efforts towards solving this. Taiwan will be accepted as independent of China, but the Chechens may still be fighting Russia.

Political revolutions in Iran will catalyse reform in the Middle East. There may be serious bloodshed, during which people will flee to Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan. Finally, the UN (it will survive) or NATO (which will be largely a misnomer now) may play a role. The diminishing revenues from oil will force this region to join in the global marketplace. So, if there's no bloody revolution, there will still be reform based on economic needs.

All of Europe, including the UK will become one big Country (or nearly), all having adopted the Euro and joined the EU. Fidel Castro, Kim Jong Il and Robert Mugabe will be dead. Cubans, North Koreans and Zimbabweans will be happier people. North and South Korea may unite, but only if an active role (such as pumping in money) is played by the west. All the countries of the world will have signed the NTBT and the US and Russia will agree to destroy large chunks of their rotting nuclear arsenals. All Russian weapons grade plutonium will be bought up or 'taken care of' in some manner.

Developed countries will agree to reduce agricultural subsidies to appease the developing and underdeveloped countries. There will be a noticeable amount of upliftment in underdeveloped countries, as a result of globalization. US news shows (newspapers may have gone extinct) will carry more news of events outside the US. China may go through a metamorphosis from a Communist state to a mixed (Capitalist-Socialist) state, fuelled by economic growth.

I should stop this overly optimistic raving now.

 

[Gokul43201]

Alternatively, germs will rule the planet.

 

[loseyourname]

California, Nevada, and Arizona will go to war over rights to the Colorado River.

 

[BobG]

California, Nevada, and Arizona will go to war over rights to the Colorado River.

But will eventually sign a treaty of alliance when Colorado dams the river at Colorado-Utah border. :tongue2:

1. Issues in the Middle East will fizzle out anticlimatically. There is no Islam vs. Western World issue. The issue is Middle East nations using their new found wealth to modernize and improve their standard of living. In other words, most terrorist groups aren't fighting an ideological war against the US government - they're fighting an ideological war against Coca-Cola. They're fighting time and change and nobody ever wins against those foes.

2. China will emerge as a (the?) major economic power. I'm simply amazed that China's past government could do such a phenomenal job of keeping them poor for so long. Once they start on the road to capitalism, I don't think it'll take them long to get good at it.

3. Standard of living in most third world countries improves. From a global perspective, outsourcing of American jobs is a good thing.

4. Standard of living in the United States and Europe decreases. Who's business and jobs do you think China and third world countries will be stealing, anyway.

5. Dissident Dan's comments about multinational conglomerates is pretty insightful. Many multi-national coorporations are more economically powerful than the majority of third world nations. Somewhere in the distant future (probably not in the next 100 years), people will see that world organizations such as the UN need to be modeled along the same lines as Congress in the US, but with a slight modification. You're going to have a branch consisting of multi-national coorporations, a branch of countries (as defined by borders), and branch of nations (as defined by people of a common culture). This will be a good thing. Multi-national coorporations help keep the peace (the old saying "There's never been a war between two countries that both had a McDonald's"). Providing some outlet and relief to mini-nations too weak to control a country defuses some of your problems with revolutionary groups in weak countries.

Edit: fixed typos.

 

[Janitor]

Cars will not fly. Nor will jetpacks be common.

Ah, how that brings to mind the wild optimism of the swinging 1960s.

 

[JohnDubYa]

Our next big trouble spot? Indonesia.

 

[Mattius_]

4. Standard of living in the United States and Europe decreases. Who's business and jobs do you think China and third world countries will be stealing, anyway.

The only real threat I see to American wealth is the protection of international copyright. If we can hold the rest of the world to a contractual agreement in which we receive gratuities for our technological advances, then I see America staying very powerful, however, I doubt any actions other than sanctions could force other nations to adopt our rules of play. *** A good start would be immediate action taken in the movie and music piracy industry sweeping the world***

Solar Energy usage will be widespread but insufficient.

Solar power? Not unless the japanese come up with a better semi-conductor, yea right.

2. China will emerge as a (the?) major economic power. I'm simply amazed that China's past government could do such a phenomenal job of keeping them poor for so long.

Chinese people were very sumbmissive to authority by culture. During the 'Great Leap Forward', they melted their personal pots and pans for steal production statistics. Good old Mao, they starved.

 

[zeronem]

Example: Einstein helping develop the atomic bomb and then regreting it. To me this is the one thing I worry about if I become a scientist and develop significant things for the world.

I thought Einstein only sent the letter to the President about the development of the Atomic Bomb? I don't think Einstein had anything to do with Oppenheimer's Project. It's all in the Biography of Einstein!

http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Einstein.html


It mentions about the letter, however it doesn't mention about any involvment in the development of the Atomic Bomb. Or did I miss read it?

 

[russ_watters]

Moore's Law on the progress of computing power will finally hit the wall.

Too late, Janitor - it already has.

 

[Janitor]

Too late, Janitor - it already has.

You mean the good folks at Intel have dropped off the furious pace?

 

[Mattius_]

explains this 'Moore's law' please.

 

[zeronem]

explains this 'Moore's law' please.

Moore's Law - A law stating that the power of computers will double every eighteen months.

 

[Mattius_]

why would it double every 18 months?

 

[Janitor]

why would it double every 18 months?

I can't explain the why of it, but for a long time it was a good rule of thumb. I was not aware that the pace had slackened.

 

[zeronem]

Here's a site, it tells a lot more about it if your truly interested.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law