What will happen between now and 2020?

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  • Thread starter Thread starter Phrak
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around predictions for changes in the global eco-social domain between the present and the year 2020. Participants share a variety of speculative ideas, ranging from technological advancements to socio-political developments, without reaching any consensus on the outcomes.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants predict significant changes, while others express skepticism about any real change occurring.
  • There are humorous and satirical predictions about technology, such as the replacement of touch screens with smell screens and the introduction of an "iTampon."
  • Concerns are raised about economic collapses, including the potential collapse of major currencies and the emergence of a police state in the US.
  • Some participants suggest that various forms of media and entertainment will evolve, including the idea that dogs will invent a sport.
  • Predictions about political events include debates over Gitmo and the possibility of a single worldwide currency.
  • There are conflicting views on technological advancements in cell phone technology, with some expecting a revolution in communication methods.
  • Speculations about societal issues include predictions of state defaults and the impact of peak oil on future events.
  • Some participants express a cynical view of future societal developments, including potential wars and social unrest.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally do not agree on the nature or extent of changes expected by 2020, with multiple competing views and a range of predictions presented. The discussion remains unresolved with no consensus on specific outcomes.

Contextual Notes

Many predictions are speculative and humorous, reflecting a mix of serious and lighthearted contributions. The discussion includes a variety of assumptions and conditions that are not universally accepted.

Phrak
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What Are Your Real-World Predictions of how the world will change between today and 2020 in the Global Eco-Social Domain?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
A LOT. :biggrin:
 
It wont.
 
A strategy for the closing of Gitmo will be debated?
 
Phrak said:
What Are Your Real-World Predictions of how the world will change between today and 2020 in the Global Eco-Social Domain?

A significant number of new calendars will be printed and consumed. Many of them will be made from post-consumer content. Almost all calendars will have month names printed on each page, and the number 3 will appear repeatedly.

Okay, I'm totally going to post again... I have lots of ideas!
 
Little of this, little of that.
 
  • Touch screens will be replaced by smell screens; developers will tout their informational density
  • Apple will release the new iTampon. People will make fun of the name at first, but eventually it will be "no big deal"
  • Someone will claim "voting fraud" at some election somewhere in the world
  • Japan will drift further out to sea in response to more weird stuff coming out of the Koreas
  • People will complain about things they don't understand
  • USB 3.0 will resist widespread adoption for a while, but Skynet will fix that
  • Brown will be the new orange, and orange will be the new Apple
  • Dogs will invent a sport in which they pit ravenous quarterbacks against each other in battle on a large field; it will be denounced by the masses as "entertaining"
  • McDonald's will get rid of the McRib again only to bring it back after the fire-bombings start
  • Barack Obama will become the second president (after Cleveland) to serve two non-consecutive terms
  • Surprisingly, history will actually vindicate G.W. Bush; unfortunately, he will be insulted by the idea of "being vindicated"
  • Noobs will be appreciably pwned
  • A method for taking the indefinite integral of a function but not having a constant-of-integration left over will be discovered
  • NASA, with nothing better to do, will simply start littering the surface of moons and planets with rovers
  • Highways will be privatized. The resulting competition will lead to a large range or roads of different qualities which the consumer can pick from by paying different amounts. Private security will be hired to patrol the new private highways and people will avoid driving on roads with overly intrusive security.
  • The RIAA will simply start assaulting people at random
  • Much to the surprise of no one at all, Jack Thompson will say something stupid
  • Flex will hijack some more threads
 
Last edited:
The Browns will almost make it to the Super Bowl.
 
The US dollar will collapse, the Euro will collapse, the Pound will collapse, China will cash in their debt, the US will become a police state, and all American newspapers will be shut down.
 
  • #10
Char. Limit said:
The US dollar will collapse, the Euro will collapse, the Pound will collapse, China will cash in their debt, the US will become a police state, and all American newspapers will be shut down.

...and the Cleveland Browns?
 
  • #11
You mean between today and 2012, right ?
 
  • #12
WhoWee said:
...and the Cleveland Browns?

They will also become a police state. After the dollar collapses, the Cleveland Browns will use their influence to take over Southwest Ohio.
 
  • #13
A single currency worldwide.
 
  • #14
Cell phone technology will undergo a revolution when "speech to text", "text to speech" and "real time texting" combine to make it seem like you are actually talking to someone directly.
 
  • #15
Janus said:
Cell phone technology will undergo a revolution when "speech to text", "text to speech" and "real time texting" combine to make it seem like you are actually talking to someone directly.
:smile:
 
  • #16
at 2020, Julian Assange might run out of secrets...
 
  • #17
How about checking the Y2K predictions over the decade 2000-2010?
 
  • #18
Char. Limit said:
They will also become a police state. After the dollar collapses, the Cleveland Browns will use their influence to take over Southwest Ohio.

.. the browns would be lucky if they could 'influence' cleveland, let alone any of ohio..
 
  • #19
FlexGunship said:
  • Flex will hijack some more threads

There are some sweet gems in there.
 
  • #20
If peak oil doesn't occur in 2015 to 2017 the way claimed, then in 2020, peak oilers will be saying 2025 is when the crap hits the fan.
 
  • #21
Confidence in the Asian markets will be eroded after a series of adjustments.
 
  • #22
Miley Cyrus will decline, Lindsy Lohan will die, and I won't care at all.. not. at. all.

Oh, probably a few elections and a war or two... maybe some genocide. I think it's going to be a brisk century for the human race.
 
  • #23
CAC1001 said:
If peak oil doesn't occur in 2015 to 2017 the way claimed, then in 2020, peak oilers will be saying 2025 is when the crap hits the fan.

Ideologues will be sterilized in accordance with their dystopian fantasies of leftist euthanasia plots.
 
  • #24
nismaratwork said:
Ideologues will be sterilized in accordance with their dystopian fantasies of leftist euthanasia plots.

Will it be blamed on "climate change"?
 
  • #25
WhoWee said:
Will it be blamed on "climate change"?

Nah, death panels, Jan Brewer, and gay people in the military. :smile:

EDIT: truth time... I also touched myself in an impure manner back in '98, so I think that does it too...
 
  • #26
One or more US states will default on their debts before 2015.
 
  • #27
mheslep said:
One or more US states will default on their debts before 2015.

California or Arizona or Michigan... who'llitbe who'llitbe...
 
  • #28
2012.

2013.

2014.

2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020.

In a freak LHC accident, the year 2018 will be skipped entirely
 
  • #29
Office_Shredder said:
2012.

2013.

2014.

2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020.

In a freak LHC accident, the year 2018 will be skipped entirely

:smile:
 
  • #30
Newai said:
There are some sweet gems in there.

Any favorites? I have a million more, but thought the list was too long already.

  • Continuing the current trend: laptops will replace desktops, netbooks will replace laptops, tablets will replace netbooks, and punch-card mainframes will replace tablets.
  • Someone will add a third wheel to the Segway reducing the cost by 70% and making it considerably easier to produce
  • The internet will be replaced...
 

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