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In line with things past, what do you people think the world would look like in the next fifty years?

That too is kind of undefined. However I can kind of remember what it looked like 50 years ago.

Making allowances for the different viewpoint of young punk and jaded grouch - 50 years made the world faster - more crowded - more uniformitarian - less provided with places to be quiet - more human and less humane - less concerned with rights and righteousness - harder to be ALIVE in.

I do not see any signs of these trends being reversed.

I know, I did this so that the expertise and insight of different perspectives can be given to make a detailed picture.

Thank you for your input, but what do you mean by to be ALIVE? the literal or the figurative?

My understanding from research is that developed countries will actually lose population. And countries like India will double population, surpassing China. As far as how things will look and work, so much of it depends on culture, technology, and politics. I don't think things are going to get easier for most people, but humans will be humans and for those that make the right choices and adapt well, there will probably still be content people in the world.

The best days may be gone for the US, but the best days may still be ahead for people in other countries. I think it is a matter of perspective, and expectation. Expectation exceeds reality in the US now. There are other people in other countries that don't expect much and may have a little more of what they need in the future, because the world may need the human resources they can provide.

My understanding is that the UK is projected to lose 100 Million people in the next 50 years.

Well, coast lines will be radically different, and god knows what will happen to global food supply. I suspect that America will still have a corporatist government, with ridiculous amount of power going to the rich in the name of freedom and equal rights. I fear that the rest of the world might follow their example, but hopefully not. I suspect radical elements will begin to look more appealing because of disasters caused by climate change. So we can expect the French Communist Party (and similar groups) to grow (I don't know enough about them to judge whether that is frightening or not--do they still admire the USSR?). I imagine that religious groups will also become more powerful. I'm hoping that Green Parties will grow in influence too.

In terms of technology--I think all we can safely say is that we don't have a clue. I suspect that there will be some significant space industry, although not on the level of 2001: A Space Odyssey. But that's just a guess.

Have you seen photographs of people taken around the time of the Civil War. These folks look just like we do (forget the different clothing styles).

ruveyn

I'm getting the impression that you're answering a different question or I am not understanding you in relation to mine.

According to the 2002 film Minority Report, that's what the world of 2054 will look like, since they hired a team of futurists to consult on the world presented in the film. But I doubt we'll see magnetic vertical highways like the ones we see there. Now matter how talented a futurist is, nobody ever accurately predicts the future.

We're gonna see more cyborgs, that's for sure. Prosthetic limbs have gotten so advanced that people using them today could technically be called cyborgs, and the stuff that's getting implanted in people is getting crazy. There's going to be a lot more conversation about what it means to be human with all the technology around.

I don't think he is asking about people. But, you bring up an interesting point. Although, in general, civil war era people look like we do today in America, on average we are taller by about 4 inches, according to statistics, than they we were in the mid 19th century. The most likely reported reason is better nutrition in childhood.

My understanding is similar statistics apply in the UK, however during world war I & II, with problems with nutrition, some European countries lost height during that period, but have statistically regained it since.

There is a fitness craze. but also more of a sedentary lifestyle associated with work that can lead to premature heart disease according to studies. And then there are the children of today that sit in one spot much more than the children did 50 years ago. Even with medical technology, I think we may have reached the limits of longevity; at least in the US. And perhaps the limits of average height too, particulary with the influx of hispanic immigrants who on average are shorter than people living in the US.

If it wasn't for immigrants, however, statistics show that our population would have started to decline in about 2020. Instead, under current immigration rates, it is expected to double this Century.

As things stand now the average American will not look the same 50 years from now, in part because of the influx of immigrants. They may be shorter on average than they are today, and it is likely that caucasian physical traits will no longer be the norm. Longevity is speculation at this point; a mix of medical advances and healthy fitness habits, but with the negative impact of a more sedentary lifestyle with the likeyhood of increases in day to day stress over the next 50 years. We have access to nutritious foods, but apparently not everyone is taking that route.

I guess , Space War I, a third great famine. Nuclear energy gone nuts. Eventually we will have a second baby boomer-like time due to the great reduction in population and the war-induced technological progress. Probably Moon and Mars colonies for tourism.

Economy-wise? I think China will not be as impressed as planned right now, but part of space war I will be a revolution that will bring it to actual democratic grounds. US will continue to fade into irrelevancy and will form an EU-like economic block with Canada and Japan. A new power will rise from somewhere like Asia, Africa or South America.

Technology will first go through horribly Orwellian phases. In fact, the current trends like the iOS and Android to make horribly limiting tech that does not obey you is a reality and will only get worse. Most people will need a couple of decades to figure out why that's ret*d. Perhaps with the aid of the century's evil empire which I do not know where it shall originate (The one that causes the Space War I) perhaps it is already building up.

Israel and Palestine will still fight each other.

I assumed like me you were maximizing freedom of input. I just have the academic habit of pointing it out in the preamble. "Well, of course that is a very complex question. If we consider only ...."

As for ALIVE, figurative - if you count quality of life as figurative. The guy who has been chained to an oar in a galley for five years has a pulse, breathes, eats, excretes - if you call that living.

For me [and it varies with person and place and age, of course] to be ALIVE I need access to a library and the time to rummage through it. I need woods or fields to walk in without meeting anybody. I need to be able to sit on my porch and watch the sunset and hear the birds talking about bedtime. I need a couple ours a fay when I can do REAL work, not what I'm paid for. I need an occasional exceptional meal and time adequate for digestion very day. I need pleasant, intelligent, like minded people to talk to.

All of that, and other associated things, are getting harder to find. I can't see them getting easier soon.

Things past aside (with the exception of a few apocalyptic sci-fi movies), I suspect many of us will live in virtual wastelands where infrastructure has collapsed -- bridges, water lines, "the grid", etc. -- while the elitists bus some of us into their areas as day servants.

Crops are already failing all over the world as the result of global warming and water shortages. This is only the beginning. Predictions are that the problem is accelerating at a major and unexpected pace and nobody is really reacting properly. Just look at the current food price rise and expect more in a hurry.
The BS about freedom that is excusing the current wars over oil also is just the start of a nasty and violent world run by greedy and stupid and brutal leaders and that leaves out no country. No need to go to Hell. We are manufacturing it right here very rapidly.

A lot like things are now, with more technology, and possibly more shockingly ill-informed political reaction from the ignorant masses.

Is contemplating MORE ill-informed political reaction [a politician's dream scenario, of course] optimism or pessimism?

We might quibble on "more technology" - different technology, yes, but there is a tendency for Technology A to fall by the wayside as Technology B swaggers in. Still, there is no clear evidence for - possibly no way of measuring - balance.

Well, yes, but wired telephones that were simple enough to be built from discrete components in an 8th grade science class were displaced by cordless phones more similar to a ham radio, which were then displaced by simple cell phones, which were then replaced by feature-rich cell phones, which were then replaced by tiny computers that sometimes make a phone call.

Similarly, digital video is dizzyingly complex compared to the old analog television sets. You have no idea how big of a rube goldberg machine is behind the average flat screen.