Which is the most likely scenario for human society in the next 100 years?

[MrScorpio]

Utopia?




Dystopia?

Or

http://images.cryhavok.org/d/3485-2/Post-Apocalyptic+Cityscape.jpg
Post-Apocalyptic meltdown?

(Edit: Because the Apocalypse was too COOL)

[MineralMan]

1. Other: None of the above.

We cannot anticipate where we will be in 100 years. Viz: Photo from 1910. Do you suppose the people living in Toronto then could have imagined Toronto today? I had a photo from NYC, but it was too large to post. It's utter folly to attempt to predict how things will be a century from now.



And today, looking down King St:

[cherokeeprogressive]

6. +10

[MrScorpio]

7. God damned optimists

Do you have to spoil everything?

:shrug:

[cherokeeprogressive]

12. Can't help it. I'm cursed with an optimistic blood type: B+

That probably explains why my ex-wife and I had to split the sheets (actually she got the sheets and everything else).

She's O-

[MrScorpio]

15. Well, I'm 1/16th Cherokee on my mother's side

Perhaps, I could de well by your example

[MineralMan]

22. Aren't we all? Seems like everyone claims that, anyhow.

Lots of randy settlers, it seems. :shrug:

[JackRiddler]

19. Many places do still look exactly like that (but with cars and different fashions).

I'm sure if you look at it systematically you'll find some observers looking forward from 1910 got more right than others.

Hell, Karl Marx writing 50 years earlier described the dynamics of the 2008 crash.

[RKP5637]

28. I like the photo from 1910!!! n/t

[MineralMan]

31. Sorry, but you had already died of typhoid in 1910.

Or maybe it was tuberculosis.

Many things are much improved since 1910. You may be able to think of some as you type your posts on DU.

[RKP5637]

34. I didn't say I wanted to live then, I just liked the picture you posted! Have no idea

how you concluded that...

[Posteritatis]

32. I think I know the photo you're talking about

DU seems deeply braindead about linking to Wikipedia images, though; it's seeing the .jpg extension in the URL and trying to force a webpage link to render as an image.

This will be a broken link until you add ".jpg" to it, at which point it will be a not-broken link.

[Lorien]

2. At this rate the planet won't have the oxygen levels needed to support human life

or most other life forms, for that matter.

Oceans provide 65% of our oxygen, forests provide the rest. You do the math.

[dmallind]

3. Other

Actually quite like today with some fairly significant technology shifts that obviously I cannot predict, but will probably include many new energy sources, much improved batteries, biotechnology and nanotechnology.

It will likely not be the Jetsons nor will it be Mad Max. But I can confidently predict some things:

Some people will still be bitching about the good old days of the '10s
Some people will still be predicting imminent doom - it may be called Kunstlerist rather than Malthusian though
We will have fewer but more radical religious followers - including a couple of new religions at least

[Echo In Light]

4. The psychos running the show will eventually unloose the nukes or bio/chemical weapons

[RKP5637]

5. That's what I think too... bio... probably an accidental spill that encircles the

earth like a plague.

[Echo In Light]

9. Probably nukes, and will probably begin by 'accident'

[RKP5637]

21. Yep, could be. I'm really uncomfortable with all of the "kill power" around anymore. Way

back it was a local tribe that got wiped out, but now the entire planet could get wiped out, but everyone just keeps marching on... I had thought possibly bio because it can be so clandestine and then oops...

[damntexdem]

8. Hate to say it, but apocalypse looks more and more likely.

And not because of fate or divine programming, rather because of human stupidity.

[Echo In Light]

27. "Business" types prefer the Loons Have ALWAYS Predicted The End approach, minus crucial variables...

Such as, it's only been since the mid twentieth century that our species has had extinction-ensuring weaponry set to global, instantaneous, mass delivery systems.

Yep, that's one extraordinarily massive component to overlook in assessing potentials

[Subdivisions]

10. Once Peak Oil tightens it's grip, we'll fly right off the cliff like

Thelma and Louise into a post-apocalyptic world of famine, disease, death, and smoldering ruins.

[RKP5637]

33. Yep, the "Oil Wars" will begin. It is like watching a slow motion

train wreck. And some will pray for oil, because they deserve it more than the "Others" and are the chosen ones for salvation.

[Echo In Light]

35. Such war$ have already begun

[MrScorpio]

37. Oil War Two is already America's longest war

[RKP5637]

39. True, quite true. n/t

[Subdivisions]

41. 'Oil Wars'! Excellent. That's exactly what us citizens should start calling

them: the Gulf War = Oil War I and the Iraq War/"War on Terror" = Oil War II

The next war will of course be called "Oil War III" and so on.

My point is that we as a People should call these things for what they are since the media won't do it.

[MrScorpio]

42. I've got a jump start on ya, Buddy!

[Subdivisions]

47. Indeed you do, MrScorpio! =)

:hi:

[RKP5637]

57. Yeah, I like your idea... my hunch is Iran will eventually be Oil War III. The MSM

of today is ridiculous.

[Individualist]

11. Extinction.

[eShirl]

13. a bit of each

[HughMoran]

14. Teh Stupid, if bruns!

Uggh, this is exactly why we can't have constructive dialog here - TEH SKY IS FALLING!!!!!!!

:hide:

[MrScorpio]

16. I take it that you voted Utopia?

I'm more of a Dystopia man myself

[HughMoran]

29. I voted for death and destruction

WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!

(someday)

[Echo In Light]

17. Conversations on The Edge of The Apocalypse (George Carlin, Noam Chomsky & many others)

In his latest interview collection, David Jay Brown has once again gathered some of the most interesting minds of today to consider the future of the human race, the mystery of consciousness, the evolution of technology, psychic phenomena, and more. The book includes conversations with celebrated visionaries and inspirational figures such as Ram Dass, Noam Chomsky, Deepak Chopra, and George Carlin. Part scientific exploration, part philosophical speculation, and part intellectual rollercoaster, the free-form discussions are original and captivating, and offer surprising revelations. "Conversations on the Edge of the Apocalpyse" is a new look into the minds of some of our groundbreaking leaders and is the perfect gift for science fiction and philosophy fans alike.

Listing of Interviews:

Noam Chomsky
George Carlin
Kary Mullis
Candace Pert
Edgar Mitchell
Deepak Chopra
Rupert Sheldrake
Robert Anton Wilson
Peter Russell
Douglas Rushkoff
Paul Krassner
Bruce Sterling
Clifford Pickover
Ray Kurzweil
Hans Moravec
John Mack
Dean Radin
Ram Dass
Valerie Corral
Jeff McBride
Alex Grey

http://books.google.com/books?id=uCF5SBj0EmUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=conversations+apocalypse+chomsky+carlin&source=bl&ots=ftUPW04k3m&sig=IJFwxYQ1soX9R8N_QHcbQEJr2ko&hl=en&ei=pUQNTNuNEaP4MJT07bUE&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false

[obxhead]

18. It all depends on ones economic status really

A lot will also depend on when we run out of oil and who hordes the most of it for military use in the end.

[MrScorpio]

20. The poor will always be with us...

And so will some rich motherfucker with his boot on the poor's neck

[obxhead]

30. yes, but but what will the ratio be in 100 years?

[MrScorpio]

36. More lopsided than we can ever imagine

I see tiny enclaves of rich assholes, guarded by guns and technology surrounded everyone else, who are desperate and barely scraping up enough sustenance.

And then the world will end up like Zardoz.

[obxhead]

45. I'll be glad to no longer need to worry about it for myself by that time.

I feel sorry for the grandchildren that will have to fight that though.

[Posteritatis]

23. Other - Falsedilemmia

And I'm slightly embarrassed at how many of the buildings in the first picture I recognize.

[MrScorpio]

26. Me too

It just pisses me off that they left the Ren Cen out

[gulliver]

24. Is Picture 3 a Dorian Gray picture of the present? n/t

[The Straight Story]

25. That the bible was right, even without god/religion:

Mankind gets worse and worse over the years and keeps repeating the same things over and over - but the kicker is as we get more efficient and intelligent we create more spectacular ways to do those things (like war/control of others).

It has been called 'the duality of prophecy' before - because the same prophecy fits each age, but as Jesus said it is like a woman in labor, and the pains will get sharper and closer together as the end nears.

One does not need to be a prophet to see the simple logic behind it all. Humans excel at killing and controlling others, they will keep doing it, and will eventually have the means to wipe life off the planet and will do so.

I don't lack faith in God, I lack it in mankind. I would have kicked us out of the garden as well :)

[apocalypsehow]

38. Curtain #3, of course. n/t.

[MrScorpio]

40. Surprise, surprise, surprise N/T

[nichomachus]

43. None of the above

Nothing that spiffy or apocalyptic or entertaining. We will just continue to crumble, as we have been for 40 years now, since the Reagan Plan went into effect. The infrastructure will continue to collapse and as the no-taxers starve governments even more, our ability to repair things won't be able to keep up with the collapse. We can now fix the occasional bridge that falls down, but when three or four fail at the same time, there won't be any money to do them all. The military has already warned that there will be oil shortages by 2015. What little oil we do have will be be diverted to the military to continue corporate adventures overseas. Of course, this will impact people's ability to work, therefore to keep up their property. Things will just start falling down. The most unsustainable suburbs will empty and the houses will start to collapse. They will become ghost towns.

[RKP5637]

52. Much as this IMO ...

This tells American's future in two short videos, where we are currently headed if we keep the course...

Post Manufacturing, moving to other countries...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JbGxIR8JTk&feature=related

Post Employment, moving the money out of mainstream America...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6WKMNmFsxM&feature=related

[HughBeaumont]

44. THIS!

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/HughBeaumont/78

This will be the Joy SUCK Club! Mass hangings, pollution, viral warfare, 3 billion buried, GREY.

Take teh Ginsu and end it all at once.

:rofl:

[PassingFair]

46. I was hoping for this:

[MrScorpio]

50. I'll be on the lookout for the dreaded RISE OF THE OOMPA LOOMPA! n/t

[PassingFair]

55. They're trying to mingle into the general population...

[MrScorpio]

56. LOL

Damn good

[lumberjack_jeff]

48. Home delivered soylent green. Via jetpack.

But I'm glad to see that the space needle is part of a utopian future.
... but only if they lower their lunch prices.

[Johonny]

49. rapture for me baby

[Initech]

51. None of the above, I think Idiocracy has the most plausible scenario.

[MrScorpio]

54. I didn't want to give in to the fad

Thanks for bringing it up, however.

[Warren DeMontague]

53. We're all going to be safely ensconced in our yurts, flagellating ourselves through our hair shirts

for the sin of existing- for man's "befouling" of an otherwise entirely perfect universe.

Then we'll all die because that's what the universe demands, besides everything's so gloomy, man.



I told you, we never should have bombed the moon.

[Scuba]

58. Optimistic bunch, aren't we?