The 22nd Century at First Light: Envisioning Life in the Year 2100
A special report by members and friends of the World Future Society
A child born today will only be 88 years old in the year 2100. It’s time to start thinking and caring about the twenty-second century now.
The next 88 years may see changes that come exponentially faster than the previous 88 years. What new inventions will come out of nowhere and change everything? What will our families look like? How will we govern ourselves? What new crimes or other threats loom ahead? Will we be happy? How?
THE FUTURIST invited WFS members and friends to submit forecasts, scenarios, wild cards, dreams, and nightmares about the earth, humanity, governance, commerce, science and technology, and more.
So, what do we see in this “first light” view over the next horizon? A fuzzy and inaccurate picture, no doubt, but also an earnest attempt to shake out our futuring instruments and begin improving them. To build a better future for the generations who are depending on us, we’ll need the best tools we can develop.—THE EDITORS
Timelines
- Laura B. Huhn and William Halal: Major Transformations to 2100: Highlights from the TechCast Project
- Dick Pelletier: Timeline to the 22nd Century
Tools
- House of Futures (Gitte Larsen, Søren Steen Olsen, and Steen Svendsen): Scenarios and Long-Term Thinking
Forecasts
- Olli Hietanen and Marko Ahvenainen: Bio Age 2100
- Brenda Cooper: Where the Wild Things Are Not
- Ozzie Zehner: Keys to Future Energy Prosperity
- Marta M. Keane: Healthy Aging in the 22nd Century
- Stephen Aguilar-Millan: Will We Still Have Money in 2100?
- Eric Meade: Slums: A Catalyst Bed for Poverty Eradication
- Manjul Rathee: From Communication to Transmission
- Gina A. Bellofatto: Religious Belief in the Year 2100
- Arthur Shostak: Game Changers for the Next Century
- Richard Yonck: A Brave New Species
- Julio Arbesú: Transport and Transhumans
- Davidson Barlett: Lanes in the Sky
- Marc Blasband: When the Machines Take Over
- Jim Bracken: Technology vs. the World
- John P. Sagi: Cyborg Me
- Joshua Loughman: The Local-Global Duality of 2100
Scenarios
- Paul Saffo: The Wonders We Didn’t Expect
- Michael Lee: Southern Africa Takes Center Stage
- Gene Stephens: Beyond Transhumanism
- Jouni J. Särkijärvi: Paradise Found: No Aging, No Pensions
- Richard David Hames: When the Storms Came
- Gereon Klein: Geonautics
- Paul Bristow: Energy and Living Well
- Bart Main: Life and Love in the Pod
- Tsvi Bisk: 2099: Headlines Warn of Global Cooling
- Cynthia G. Wagner: Reunion: A Civil War Fable
- Robert Moran: Meaning for Miranda
- Stephen Bertman: The Last Oracle
- Peter Denning: Automated Government
- Daniel Egger: Old Cities of Amber
- Karl Albrecht: Here’s the News from 2100
Questions
- Michael Marien: Ten Big Questions for 2100
- David Brin: On Being Human: Questioning Ourselves
Digg
Facebook
Google
LinkedIn
Twitter
Yahoo
Like us on Facebook
WorldFutureSoc on TwitterFree Email Newsletter
Sign up for Futurist Update, our free monthly email newsletter. Just type your email into the box below and click subscribe.
Blogs
Hi, I’m a Robot and I’m Here To Take Your Job
One common fallacy is that people are being replaced by machines. The reality is that machines don’t work without humans. A more accurate description is that a large number of people are being replaced by a smaller number of people using machines.
Help Futurists: BetaLaunch Alumni Cyber-hero League Get Ready To Launch!
Futurists: BetaLaunch, THE FUTURIST magazine's invention and idea expo, is entering its third year and will be part of the opening night event at WorldFuture 2013. We'll be updating you soon on the BetaLaunch winners that will be showcasing their startups and inventions this July in Chicago. Right now, we would like to catch you up on one of our alumni, the Cyberhero League, an anti-bulling, pro-future game platform that teaches responsibility, sustainability, and civic-mindedness.
Scenarios for the future of urban farming
Over many centuries, attempts have been made to get food production out of the cities. Produce comes from the land and is transported into the cities. In most western cities, abattoirs have disappeared. Markets are still there, but no longer have a central role in our shopping.
Coca-Cola Blurs the Line between Virtual and Real
In this uplifting video from Coca-Cola (click here), consumers in India and Pakistan are treated to a free Coke, provided they interact with their neighbors using a virtual interface on a high-tech vending machine.
Star Trek Into Darkness: Eye Candy For The Amygdala
Star Trek Into Darkness: Eye candy for the amygdala. Yes, this is another Hollywood blockbuster depicting a dystopian future with big explosions and small innovations. However, the first ten minutes are worth the price of the ticket. I was pleasantly surprised to see J.J. Abrams using the Ancient Aliens theory and a huge wink to author Zecharia Sitchin's work in the opening scene located on the fictional (depending on who you ask) world of Nibiru.
Investing in the Future of Regenerative Medicine
Spray-on skin. Lab-grown ears. Human tissue grown in a petri dish. We're going deep into sci-fi territory (and it is already happening).
The Principles of Extropy: A Quarter Century Later
“Extropy” is celebrating its first quarter of a century. The idea was formally introduced as a philosophy of the future in 1988, and many things have happened from the end of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21st century. A new millennium has been born and the philosophy of extropy is well-suited for these new times of accelerating change, full of challenges and opportunities.
Resilience: Exploring the edge of new possibilities in the Anthropocene
One definition of resilience is “the ability to cope with shocks and keep functioning in a satisfying way”. Resilience is about the self organizing capacity of systems. This means the ability to bounce back after disaster, or the ability to transform if a bad stage has happened.
