What will life be like in 50, 100 and 150 years' time? We asked a psychic, an astrologer, a science fiction writer and a scientist to reveal all.
Think back to how completely different life was 50, 100 and 150 years ago. Fifty years ago the internet, which plays such a major part in our daily lives, did not exist. A century ago we did not have televisions and a 150 years ago the car as we know it did not exist. These modern inventions are things that we can hardly imagine life without now but would have been wondrous things for people living in the 1850s. In the same way, things that seem impossible for us to conceive of today will become the realities of tomorrow.
A couple of years ago corporate trend forecasters Pearlfisher predicted that in the future we would be smoking cigarettes that are good for us, loaded with vitamins so that you'd smoke them to get vital nutrients rather than as a bad habit. They predicted microwaves that would be programmed to deliver recipes by Jamie Oliver and Delia Smith without the need for actual cooking knowledge. There would be mood-altering soft drinks available so you'd get happiness in a can. Time-poverty and the search for quick fix cures would have corporate companies clamouring to ensure their products fit in with what the public needed (or could be made to think it needed).
Similarities
What amazed us in receiving back the predictions from our experts was how similar they were, given the different methods of divination and speculation used. Smartcards, nanotechnology and tribal communities were among the elements mentioned by more than one expert. While some of the predictions might create visions of tomorrow that make us uncomfortable, this is probably due to the fact that we are often scared by change and the unknown. The loss of control and of individual freedom frightens many people but we forget that there are many factors of life today over which we have no control.
So how does one live with these changes, sometimes positive and sometimes negative, in one's daily life? Whatever changes and advances may occur in societies and in technology, our basic human spirituality does not change. What it means to be a human will not change. This last point might be arguable if you look at areas such as cloning, robotics and genetic engineering but, however scientifically clumsy it is, when we speak of being human, we mean more than just chromosomes, flesh, blood and bone. We mean putting the humanity into the word 'humanitarian'. We can choose how to incorporate these technological strides into a society that is no longer about getting ahead and is much more geared toward the welfare and happiness of all.
Take these predictions not as gospel truths but as a stimulus for thinking about the future. If all else fails, remember you always have the satisfaction of telling your grandchildren that "it weren't like that in my day".
For this aspect of predicting the future I will be using nothing more than my trusted crystal ball, clairaudience and clairvoyance. I sit very quietly undisturbed in my office and see what transpires.
PREDICTION FOR 50 YEARS
TECHNOLOGY - All adults will have a smart card which combines driving licence, medical records, financial status, cv and any criminal convictions. It will be used for all you do so it has records of your every movement.
3-D Video conferencing which cuts out travelling between meetings and saves time.
POLITICS - After world wars and the implementation of a peace treaty to unite the disjointed world, a leader for peace is announced. There will also be the movement towards the banning of all religions as they cause wars.
SOCIETY - There will be the movement of people to live in large communes to stop the loneliness of living in the society of 2053. There will also be an increase in the number of people with healing abilities. The number of elderly will far outweigh numbers of young people.
RELATIONSHIPS - Marriage will be an old fashioned thing which will be dying out as a custom. People will live in long-term agreements until children are stable and happy.
PREDICTIONS FOR 100 YEARS
TECHNOLOGY - People will be able to be transported by teleportation; cars will take you on a ride to where you want to go. Artificial organs can be used to save lives. A pill can be taken to change your genetic make up.
POLITICS - International financial collapse leads to global panic on a massive scale. The political world is now found in federations of continents and groups of countries all joined together. Global currency will be seen as a solution and this will save this problem that threatens the economic life of the world.
SOCIETY/ RELATIONSHIPS - Extension of life span to over 100 years puts great pressure on our resources and people find that caring for relatives is taking over huge chunks of their lives. Women are opting more and more to have babies artificially so that they don't have to rely on men.
PREDICTIONS FOR 150 YEARS
TECHNOLOGY - Nanotechnology makes repairing the body possible and the need for operations to be phased out. Video conferencing software and satellite communication network allows consultants to be "virtually present" at the scene of an accident.
POLITICS - Politics is seen as a global phenomenon and the world is divided into states which rely on direction from the world senate which is a power linked to the former United States of America and China . Panic is spreading with the first reliable contact from extra terrestrials.
SOCIETY - Our jobs only take up a small part of our lives the rest of our time is used to help out on environmental projects to help stabilise the planet and also looking after our elderly relatives.
RELATIONSHIPS - Women are becoming the more dominant gender and this makes the world a more caring place. They do have male relationships but often don't feel compelled to seek permanent relationships. Men are finding that the world they created is finally fighting back as the instability, wars, hunger and environmental decline have made the world a harsh place in 2153. Women are able to counteract this decline.
In Fifty Years
In 50 years, Uranus will be in Libra as Neptune enters Gemini. A new freedom forms the guiding light in close inter-personal relationships. Even technology manifests a more caring, approachable and human face. Uranus and Neptune form a trine aspect, so an increasingly spiritual tone becomes apparent politically and throughout society at large. Surprisingly, such an aspect last featured during the Second World War, when Pluto's presence in fiery Leo inclined those then involved to fight for their beliefs. The more sensitive and compassionate nature of Pluto in Pisces will hopefully augur a more peaceable reaction the next time around!
In One Hundred Years:
In 100 years, Uranus conjoins Pluto in earthy Taurus. Both planets are strongly associated with change and are not renowned for their moderation, so politically and within society at large it will prove important to keep a cool head. In relationships the need to maintain due respect for the rights of others will be particular apparent. Technologically, substantial strides are made, which will transform the lives of future generations for many years subsequently. When last occurring in 1850, this configuration saw the invention of blue jeans and the paper bag, still two indispensable components of modern life today!
In One Hundred & Fifty Years:
In 150 years Uranus and Pluto will have swung around to opposition, with Uranus in Sagittarius and Pluto in Gemini. Travel and communication are emphasised throughout society, ongoing global events and in personal relationships too. By now humanity is reaching out beyond our small planet. Also, new forms of transportation are becoming a reality. When this configuration last occurred, telecoms were first instigated across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The first Zeppelin airship and Harley-Davidson motorcycle were created and the Wright Brothers successfully flew the first powered aeroplane!
TECHNOLOGY
50 Years: Global warming, environmental decline and diminishing fossil fuel resources will force a green technology revolution. Wave, wind and solar power will provide a significant part of our energy needs, while cars will be hydrogen-powered.
100 Years: Nanotechnology - molecular machines - will transform our day-to-day lives, travelling through our bloodstream to repair our bodies and producing computers smaller than a pinhead. All your technology needs will be part of your "intelligent" clothing.
150 Years: Artificial Intelligence will have been developed to such a degree that the boundaries between man and machine will be blurred. Politicians and big business will, as ever, exhaust all military and commercial use before any benefits filter through to the general population.
POLITICS
50 Years: As societies become more educated, they become more liberal so we will see the collapse of Conservatism as a political force. The consensus will allow more public funds to be diverted towards social needs.
100 Years: Party politics will fragment as special interest groups become the dominant campaigning force, from environmental protestors to religious campaigners and big business lobbyists.
150 Years: Government will be a mess of horse-trading as scores of disparate single-issue parties elected through proportional representation try to find common ground. Any major political advance will be impossible because no single vision will dominate.
SOCIETY
50 Years: In the UK, the decline in numbers of the major religions will accelerate, with the Christian Church teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Globally, fundamentalism - Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Sikh and Hinduism - will thrive, causing massive world tension.
100 Years: Social unrest will get worse because of a widening gulf between those who have access to technology - the well-off and educated - and a poor, under-educated underclass denied the social advances of the technological revolution.
150 Years: Environmental degradation will have made us all green. Resources will be poured into the Third World because we'll finally be forced to accept the wars caused by water shortages, population explosion and poverty cannot be kept beyond our shores.
RELATIONSHIPS
50 Years: Human relationships have hardly changed in thousands of years. We will still love and hate and care for our families. The biggest advance? More power and equality for women in the home, diminishing incidences of domestic violence.
100 Years: The family relationship will be seen as a bedrock in an increasingly unstable society, but marriage will not be legally and socially necessary, and only demanded by nostalgics and traditionalists.
150 Years: In the face of upheaval and rapid change, communities will once again become a vital force, supporting individuals and attempting to bring cohesion.
Visit www.markchadbourn.net for more on Mark's work.
If the present has taught us anything about the future at all is that our best guesses will be totally wrong. Still the trends are there and a little extrapolation married to common sense can lead to some logical predictions, at least.
Technology
Technology is going to become invisible and intuitive: 50 years from now no-one will think anything of smart homes and fast-node wireless connections and the web will be all around us.
In 100 years privacy will be a thing of the past. We will all carry updateable smartcards embedded in our bodies which will carry our work history and medical records.
In 150 years we will all be so connected that success will be measured only by our being able to afford to become 'unplugged' either temporarily or permanently.
Politics
Politics in the next 50 years will become image-driven with immediate access to public opinion polls and pressure groups which will see politicians overwhelmed with information which will further erode their effectiveness.
In 100 years, politics as we know it will be dead, with modern MPs targeting their constituencies through online forums and constituencies organised along career and ideological lines rather than geographical ones.
In 150 years government, like technology will have become smaller and invisible but, unlike technology, will have had its power seriously eroded by the continuous empowerment of the individual.
Society
Society in 50 years will be more cohesive and more fragmented than it is today. The increased niché-formation we see now will be the norm with everyone belonging to a special interest group.
In 100 years we will have returned to tribal principles governed by shared beliefs and common interests and have formed trans-national, geographically dispersed, loosely affiliated communities.
In 150 years the trend will continue with a backlash from big business and government which will find it difficult to deal with non-cohesive masses of consumers, workers and citizens.
Relationships
Relationships in 50 years will be faster in meeting and assessing potential partners as speed dating and online forums are deemed safer and a better investment in terms of time and effort.
In 100 years there will be more cross-cultural relationships and a greater interest in meeting people from within your own niché in society than ever before.
In 150 years both the above needs will be neatly met by 'tribal' marriages where your tribe could easily cut across race and geographical boundaries and still give you a shared interests and ideology partner.
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