Futurology. Because the Future is now.

[The Salty Vulcan]

I would like to think that The Escapist forums are a place where logic and commonsense are keystones to the community. Thus, it is only logical that we look ahead towards the future of society, technology and ultimately, Mankind. Which brings us to this thread, where the Futurists of among us can discuss their predictions and their ideas about what lies ahead of us.

This is an open forum. Talk about anything you want: Behaviour, Society, Technology, the Natural world etc. Just use your logic and a whole lot of imagination.

I have a few ideas myself, most concerning renewable forms of energy and technology. One of which I have dubbed The Icarus Windfarm. Essentially a fleet of unmaned, flying windmills.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Aww, I thought this thread was going to be about setting up a new religion called futurology.

On Topic, I do not believe that renewable energy is the answer to fossil fuel crisis. Most of them; wind, solar powered, are too unreliable and inefficient to supply an entire country. And the ones that do work well; Hydro-electric + wave poweredhave massive ecological downsides. Nuclear fuel is the future, it is safe when regulated properly, and I heard that its waste is actualy less harmful to the environment that coal powered stations.

I think that there will be increasing support to weaning ourselves off fossil fuels, and renewable energy will be seen as the answer. There will be a lot of money and time sunk into politically motivated schemes, backed by politicians who want to look good,(this is already kinda happening) But because of its unreliability and inefficiency it will not have the capacity to fully take over from our fossil fuel power stations. So it will become a bit of a mess when we finally accept it is not wirking, and nuclear power will be found to be the best alternative and switch finally to it.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I think that by COD 2050 they still won't have removed Second Chance.

 

[megamanenm]

I have no idea, but I'm pretty sure that in the future we're going to be just as bad at predicting the future as we are now.

 

[YT]

Personally, I think a food crisis is going to hit us before we manage a truely sustainable nation or state. The world's population is increasing exponentially and we already use 1.4 Earths (in resources) a year then can be renewed by the the Earth. So, possibly a huge food crisis in the next 50-100 years followed by a population crash. After that, the population that is left may hopefully find a way to rebulid using more sustainable methods to avoid a repeat performance. Maybe spread-out communites each using the enviroment around them to find unique solutions to self-sustainabilty based on their location.

 

[guntotingtomcat]

I want:
1. The church of Scientology to be gone.
2. People to stop giving gay people such a hard time.
3. Evolution to be proven, because I want to see the look on the faces of creationists.
4. Anti-matter power
5. Star Trek-esque space travel (FTL, artificial gravity etc)
6. Decent computer games again.
7. The abandonment of money.
8. Free media, as in all films, songs and games ever made to be COMPLETELY free over the internet.

 

[Super Toast]

8. Free media, as in all films, songs and games ever made to be COMPLETELY free over the internet.

Effectively destroying the entertainment industry.

 

[spartan231490]

Aww, I thought this thread was going to be about setting up a new religion called futurology.

On Topic, I do not believe that renewable energy is the answer to fossil fuel crisis. Most of them; wind, solar powered, are too unreliable and inefficient to supply an entire country. And the ones that do work well; Hydro-electric + wave poweredhave massive ecological downsides. Nuclear fuel is the future, it is safe when regulated properly, and I heard that its waste is actualy less harmful to the environment that coal powered stations.

I think that there will be increasing support to weaning ourselves off fossil fuels, and renewable energy will be seen as the answer. There will be a lot of money and time sunk into politically motivated schemes, backed by politicians who want to look good,(this is already kinda happening) But because of its unreliability and inefficiency it will not have the capacity to fully take over from our fossil fuel power stations. So it will become a bit of a mess when we finally accept it is not wirking, and nuclear power will be found to be the best alternative and switch finally to it.

Wind and solar aren't actually that unreliable, or inefficient. That's mostly propaganda. I know a man who powers his house with solar, and we have a lot more cloudy days than sunny ones, and he just has one cheap panel. Lowville, NY, near where I live, has windmills and I have only seen them stop turning once, and that was during one hell of a wind storm.

 

[Blue_vision]

Aww, I thought this thread was going to be about setting up a new religion called futurology.

I did as well, up to like the third sentence.

On Topic, I do not believe that renewable energy is the answer to fossil fuel crisis. Most of them; wind, solar powered, are too unreliable and inefficient to supply an entire country. And the ones that do work well; Hydro-electric + wave poweredhave massive ecological downsides. Nuclear fuel is the future, it is safe when regulated properly, and I heard that its waste is actualy less harmful to the environment that coal powered stations.

I think that there will be increasing support to weaning ourselves off fossil fuels, and renewable energy will be seen as the answer. There will be a lot of money and time sunk into politically motivated schemes, backed by politicians who want to look good,(this is already kinda happening) But because of its unreliability and inefficiency it will not have the capacity to fully take over from our fossil fuel power stations. So it will become a bit of a mess when we finally accept it is not wirking, and nuclear power will be found to be the best alternative and switch finally to it.

I have agree with you here. Nuclear power is definitely the answer to much of our current energy worries. But in the long run (i.e. after the 2050 mark,) we should get ourselves off nuclear power and on to fully renewable resources. The focus now should just be using all the non-fossil fuels that we can. Nuclear's good, especially so once governments take their heads out of their asses and allow the use of breeder reactors.
In many, many instances, that does mean installing wind turbines and solar panels where it makes sense. I mean, if each house had a solar panel on its roof, and each skyscraper and farm field had a couple of wind turbines, demand from the energy grid would go way down. At the same time, nuclear is a very viable energy source. I wouldn't encourage hydro at this point, because it can have serious environmental consequences that should be built on after we've mitigated the current energy crisis.

But in the long run, renewables are the way to go. A combination of large scale wind projects in developed areas (i.e. wind turbines dotting the countryside and on offshore costal areas close to development,) solar panels virtually everywhere, and hydroelectricity could provide basically all our energy needs, with the use of water batteries to store excess energy and release it when it's needed. Not to mention that nuclear's unfavourable because of the requirement of a fuel input, which still needs to be refined and still creates a requirement to import fuel from far off places, and the huge heat generated which seriously messes up local ecosystems. It's acceptable in the short term, but long term should be the totally realistic goal of fully renewable energy.

 

[guntotingtomcat]

8. Free media, as in all films, songs and games ever made to be COMPLETELY free over the internet.

Effectively destroying the entertainment industry.

Well, you didn't explain your point, but I'll assume that you mean no one will make stuff because there's no money in it.

1. This is a theoretical in a future where money doesn't exist. Chill out.
2. The INDUSTRY is destroying the entertainment industry. Notice how crap stuff makes more than good stuff, with a few very rare exceptions? That's not going to stop. In fact, it will only get worse.
3. People are currently producing arts in all media for prestigious awards that carry no cash prize, and much of that is of better quality than many big budget titles.

Not saying that the industry wouldn't take a blow, but it would be worth it to get rid of the heaps of money making nonsense and to restore the soul to the process, which has become a money making machine.

 

[Super Toast]

8. Free media, as in all films, songs and games ever made to be COMPLETELY free over the internet.

Effectively destroying the entertainment industry.

Well, you didn't explain your point, but I'll assume that you mean no one will make stuff because there's no money in it.

1. This is a theoretical in a future where money doesn't exist. Chill out.
2. The INDUSTRY is destroying the entertainment industry. Notice how crap stuff makes more than good stuff, with a few very rare exceptions? That's not going to stop. In fact, it will only get worse.
3. People are currently producing arts in all media for prestigious awards that carry no cash prize, and much of that is of better quality than many big budget titles.

Not saying that the industry wouldn't take a blow, but it would be worth it to get rid of the heaps of money making nonsense and to restore the soul to the process, which has become a money making machine.

I see your point, but without any money the industry would crash and burn. You say that everything made nowadays is crap and heartless. I disagree entirely. The quality of games has only improved as time has passed.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Aww, I thought this thread was going to be about setting up a new religion called futurology.

On Topic, I do not believe that renewable energy is the answer to fossil fuel crisis. Most of them; wind, solar powered, are too unreliable and inefficient to supply an entire country. And the ones that do work well; Hydro-electric + wave poweredhave massive ecological downsides. Nuclear fuel is the future, it is safe when regulated properly, and I heard that its waste is actualy less harmful to the environment that coal powered stations.

I think that there will be increasing support to weaning ourselves off fossil fuels, and renewable energy will be seen as the answer. There will be a lot of money and time sunk into politically motivated schemes, backed by politicians who want to look good,(this is already kinda happening) But because of its unreliability and inefficiency it will not have the capacity to fully take over from our fossil fuel power stations. So it will become a bit of a mess when we finally accept it is not wirking, and nuclear power will be found to be the best alternative and switch finally to it.

Wind and solar aren't actually that unreliable, or inefficient. That's mostly propaganda. I know a man who powers his house with solar, and we have a lot more cloudy days than sunny ones, and he just has one cheap panel. Lowville, NY, near where I live, has windmills and I have only seen them stop turning once, and that was during one hell of a wind storm.

The older PV solar cells only work at around 10% efficiency, moving up to 30-35% top of the line models, a single solar cell will not have the power to run a single house unless the owner is very conserative with what they use. I can't see it powering anything more demanding than an electic shower, for example.
The issue for using these sources to power a whole country is they are unreliable, they can and do help reduce the national power grids reliance on fossil fuel power stations, but their real capacities must always be hedged significantly because it is realistically impossible that every wind farm in a country will be able to run at full capacity on any given day. That said, they do help, and are useful installed in individual houses for cutting personal electricity costs, albeit expensive to buy.

 

[Wintermoot]

I would like to see Space Colonies like the ones from Gundam Universal Century (O'Neill cylinder or Island three)
I would also like to see mech,s (like Patlabor not Mobile Suit Gundam)
and the end of motion control

 

[spartan231490]

Aww, I thought this thread was going to be about setting up a new religion called futurology.

On Topic, I do not believe that renewable energy is the answer to fossil fuel crisis. Most of them; wind, solar powered, are too unreliable and inefficient to supply an entire country. And the ones that do work well; Hydro-electric + wave poweredhave massive ecological downsides. Nuclear fuel is the future, it is safe when regulated properly, and I heard that its waste is actualy less harmful to the environment that coal powered stations.

I think that there will be increasing support to weaning ourselves off fossil fuels, and renewable energy will be seen as the answer. There will be a lot of money and time sunk into politically motivated schemes, backed by politicians who want to look good,(this is already kinda happening) But because of its unreliability and inefficiency it will not have the capacity to fully take over from our fossil fuel power stations. So it will become a bit of a mess when we finally accept it is not wirking, and nuclear power will be found to be the best alternative and switch finally to it.

Wind and solar aren't actually that unreliable, or inefficient. That's mostly propaganda. I know a man who powers his house with solar, and we have a lot more cloudy days than sunny ones, and he just has one cheap panel. Lowville, NY, near where I live, has windmills and I have only seen them stop turning once, and that was during one hell of a wind storm.

The older PV solar cells only work at around 10% efficiency, moving up to 30-35% top of the line models, a single solar cell will not have the power to run a single house unless the owner is very conserative with what they use. I can't see it powering anything more demanding than an electic shower, for example.
The issue for using these sources to power a whole country is they are unreliable, they can and do help reduce the national power grids reliance on fossil fuel power stations, but their real capacities must always be hedged significantly because it is realistically impossible that every wind farm in a country will be able to run at full capacity on any given day. That said, they do help, and are useful installed in individual houses for cutting personal electricity costs, albeit expensive to buy.

he runs and entire house, complete with tvs, game systems, microwave, ect. He does have gas powered stove/washer/dryer, but he uses one single old pv solar cell.

 

[Blue_vision]

How about, instead, an economic system where all media is free, but there are standard systems for supporting artists? Torrenting music, movies, books, or games would be free and legal, but there would be an option to give whatever donation you see fit to the artists who created it, and all physical copies would have a small standard artist fee, along with the money required to produce and distribute the copy.

What does this mean? It'd probably be a boon for the entertainment industry. People don't need publishers to make a fair bit of money off of their art, which is especially good for more obscure and independent artists. You get no bullshitting over copyright laws, and everyone can enjoy culture as they want, with a standard option to support such works of art. The poor aren't culturally poor, but it's easier for people to support artists.

Would this work?

 

[guntotingtomcat]

8. Free media, as in all films, songs and games ever made to be COMPLETELY free over the internet.

Effectively destroying the entertainment industry.

Well, you didn't explain your point, but I'll assume that you mean no one will make stuff because there's no money in it.

1. This is a theoretical in a future where money doesn't exist. Chill out.
2. The INDUSTRY is destroying the entertainment industry. Notice how crap stuff makes more than good stuff, with a few very rare exceptions? That's not going to stop. In fact, it will only get worse.
3. People are currently producing arts in all media for prestigious awards that carry no cash prize, and much of that is of better quality than many big budget titles.

Not saying that the industry wouldn't take a blow, but it would be worth it to get rid of the heaps of money making nonsense and to restore the soul to the process, which has become a money making machine.

I see your point, but without any money the industry would crash and burn. You say that everything made nowadays is crap and heartless. I disagree entirely. The quality of games has only improved as time has passed.

I'm not saying everything is crap, only that the amount of money it makes is often irrelevant to how good it is. As for games, we're at the stage now where the technology can't improve all that much more, so we should focus on the game itself. Instead, companies like Madden anually re-sell an average game, which the developers care relatively little about, while a truly interesting game like Okami may make some money, but can't even dream of the amount these corporations make. Not only is it unjust, but to investors it paints the picture that the best way to make money isn't to go for the critically acclaimed titles, but the mainstream franchises. Which are usually made sloppily to save money.

 

[awesomeClaw]

I hope that Americas economy will crash and die so that Sweden can become a new super-power.(C`mon, it was bound to happen eventually!)
I also hope that i can become a game developer sometime in the future.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

he runs and entire house, complete with tvs, game systems, microwave, ect. He does have gas powered stove/washer/dryer, but he uses one single old pv solar cell.

Does he work with NASA? because rumour has it they have some kickass PV Cells that they aren't letting anyone near. how does he power it in the night? I never heard of anyone fully running a house on PV cells alone, is he completely disconnected to the national grid? and is it a modern house, because there are all sorts of power-saving stuff now that could explain his god-like energy consumption.

Sorry about this, I'm not taking the mick, I am generaly interested in it.

 

[Thunderios]

I see your point, but without any money the industry would crash and burn. You say that everything made nowadays is crap and heartless. I disagree entirely. The quality of games has only improved as time has passed.

How about everybody has to pay taxes in stead of buying titles, and then become a member of the type of media you want. If you love fps games you become a member of that club, and you receive fps when new ones come out. If you like thriller films you get those if you're a member of that club. The more members certain 'clubs' have, the more of the tax money goes to them, so the better a job they can do.

On other future predictions. I think that with genetics and psychology and artificial intelligence we'll be able to make über-humans despite almost everybody protesting against it. Some shadowy company or a country sponsored by the world governments will make those things. Then, when we have reached 100% efficiency without emotions and stuff in the way, the human race will have become one giant computer completely enveloping the earth, and expanding to all other planets.
But that will take like 500 years or so