Humanity has always looked ahead to the future, but never before has that future felt so close as it does now.
With the massive progress made in so many fields including A.I., robotics, and transportation, we’re finally smart enough to make informed decisions about the future, no matter how far-fetched those predictions may seem.
From space elevators to floating cities, data teleportation, and de-aging technology, here are some informed predictions that show what the world might look like in the year 2170.
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Before we take a look at what people today think the future will look like, let’s take a look at how people in the past predicted today would look like.
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'Collier's' once published an article titled, 'Weather Made to Order?' and to be honest, it looks great, but it's a bit impractical, to be honest.
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In 1923, Practical Electrics features the 'Electric Dog' in the September issue, featuring a family taking their toaster for a walk. Can't believe the idea didn't catch on. If only they had imagined the family as a special ops team, they'd be a bit closer to the reality.
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Now this is one way to fight a tranch war. Good thing this monstrosity never came to life.
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Of all the technological advancements our ancestors predicted, the iPhone and FaceTime, they actually got right. Called the Television and the Telephot, this imagined iPhone is pretty spot on.
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In the 1900s, the robot maid was a thing of day dreamers, but to us today, it's a reality. If you have a Roomba, congrats, you're living in the sci-fi future your great-grandma would have loved to live in.
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While the date of this painting is unknown, the prediction that future-human would travel around in flying taxis was pretty common in the 1900s. With the invention of blimps, it would be reasonable to see how our ancestors thought all travel would take place in the air.
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Sadly, floating trains haven't become a reality, at least not in the U.S.. If you live in Europe or Asia, you have floating trains, but in the good ole U. S. of A, we're stuck in traffic, alone in our cars.
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Food delivery has changed immensely since the 1960s, and one of those changes was the invention of the food truck. But instead of a door-to-door sandwich delivery service, the trucks remain parked in parking lots. So while this isn't exactly right, it gets points for being close.
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Now that we've covered some of the best and worst predictions from the past, let's look at what people living today think the world will look like in the future. Keep in mind, we are more informed today than we were 100 years ago, but that doesn't mean we know how things will play out.
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Researchers have already teleported data once, and the hope for the future is an entire network of quantum computers instantly teleporting data across networks. But so far, quantum computing hasn't proven useful for consumer technology, but if things go right, that might change in 100 years.
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There are already advances in the field of medical nanobots to treat ailments at a microscopic level.
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Instead of combating rising sea levels with sea walls, some people propose floating cities to survive the effects of climate change.
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We’re already seeing this with food delivery bots and Amazon drones. Some people think the future will be devoid of human service workers altogether.
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We’re already 3D printing synthetic skin and other organs, and researchers are working to make advances that could make aging a thing of the past.
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Cities of the future may feature eco-friendly architecture to reduce flooding, increase oxygenation in urban spaces, and provide food sources closer to consumers.
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Some countries already have high-speed rails, and they’re more than likely to continue spreading. Ideally, these vehicles will eventually be electric, for easy transportation with less of a carbon footprint.
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Although everyone imagines traveling to space in an aircraft, some scientists believe it’s more practical for a tethered cable to stretch from Earth into space. However, the size and strength needed for a cable to support its weight in space would be impractical. So sorry, but space elevators are never going to be a thing.
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Graham is the case study of what a man would look like if he evolved to survive car crashes. So if you don't want your great-grandkids to look like Graham, wear your seatbelt.
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Mindy is what tech-addicted people will look like in the future. The signs of tech neck, a smaller brain, a hunched back, and text claw hand, are byproducts of over usage of technology. Not a very bright future is it?
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Anna has evolved to accommodate her sedentary work from home lifestyle. She also has claw hands, a hunchback and swollen limbs because she sit around all day in meetings that could have been emails. Her eyes are swollen and her vision is poor because she spends all day looking at screens. Don't be like Anna, and take breaks during the day.
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In 100 years, your favorite beach might be completely under water. For those who live inland, this might not be the worst news, but for those of us living on the coast, if we don't evolve to have gills and fins, the future is going to be pretty wet.
