If we read predictions of what the future was going to be like from 100 years ago some of the predictions would not have gone far enough. This is because we have advanced faster than was expected. Then there was those predictions which were just pie in the sky and had us going to places in space which would have not only required super speed, but speed far faster than light speed. One of the predictions which has been made for those 100 years was the prediction which stated we would have flying cars. This prediction has been made almost every time someone predicts the future and guess what? It is being made again. This time Airbus is stating it will become a reality in 2017. It is still hard to believe since it is not only the fact that flying car have to be built and many different ones were built over the years, it is also the fact they would have to be controlled like an airplane by air traffic controllers and the operators would need a pilot’s license. Then there is the problem of where they would be allowed to take off and land from.

A lot of the predictions have to do with space travel. We are still predicting travel and colonization of distant planets, planets which are not in our solar system. Without the discovery of some kind of Star Trek warp drive this seems impossible. I have heard a lot of talk about folding space to get from one place to another much quicker, but quite frankly even if we could do this we don’t know if it would be destructive or not. It seems this power may be far beyond us. There is also talk of future humans using wormholes to travel through which might be shortcuts in space. We have never discovered a wormhole. Furthermore no one really knows how one could be created. If shortcuts in space do exist they might be inside black holes. How would one navigate a black hole which has the tremendous power to crush planets?

One prediction which should make us uncomfortable is the one which states in the future we will not be able to tell the difference between humans and androids and androids will be sentient. This means humans will have created a race of living creatures in their own image, sound familiar? Could intelligent androids and humans with all their faults live together in harmony? I don’t think so. The androids would have standards which are much different and the fact we all can’t be trusted might mean the androids would decide to either leave the earth or do us in. This assumes the androids don’t develop the same traits we have. By that time the androids will probably be able to create more of their kind and wouldn’t need us to do it anymore.

We probably won’t have to worry about what we eat anymore, because all our meat will be produced in a sanitary laboratory and our crops will be perfected to the point they will give us perfect nutrition. The days of Salmonella may be over in the future along with many other food borne diseases, but on the other hand some are predicting a severe shortage of crops due to the decline of the bees. As we all know bees pollinate the crops and the less bees, the less pollination. If we can solve the deaths of the bees, which have now made it to the endangered species list, we will be okay. If we can’t solve the bee problem it could lead to hunger and death for many people. There are scientists who are working on a bee replacement and it is a robot bee. I don’t know how practical this would be, but it is good to know we are not just sitting back while this is happening.

In 1884 we built a building in Chicago which was considered the first skyscraper. It was the Home Insurance Building and reached the incredible height of ten stories. The tallest building today is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.  It is 2,722 feet tall which is over ½ mile in height. There is no reason to believe buildings will not get taller and as a matter of fact there are some already being planned which put the Burj Khalifa’s height to shame. A building is being planned which would be in Saudi Arabia. The planned height is 3,335 feet and it is to be called the Jeddah Tower, but even this building can’t hold a candle to one which planners say will be three miles tall and be able to clean itself.

Medicine and cures for ailments has come a long way. Twenty five percent of those who get cancer are living much longer lives. Claims are being made by scientists that it is only a matter of time before there is a cure for cancer. Unfortunately we have been hearing this for some time now, but as technology advances the chances of curing this terrible disease in the future increase. The same is true for diseases of the brain. We are just starting to discover what causes some brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and some scientists are saying they have made progress in reversing it. We are also on the cusp of extending human life and have done so in mice. Future people might live two times longer than we do today or even far longer than that. Aging has just started to be treated like a disease and not a natural function.

It is no secret jobs are being lost. If things keep going the way they are, it will be hard to find a human in any type of business in the future. Machines will wait on us, fix our food and serve us. Trucks, trains and airplanes will all drive themselves and when we go to the doctor we will be treated by computer controlled machines which will have the total knowledge of medicine available to them. It is being predicted there will no longer be a need for schools since it will be far simpler to implant us with the knowledge we need which would then be readily available to us.

If predictions of the future come true, the future would be quite foreign to us today. People would have a lot more free time and there would have to be some sort of payment to them. They would also need something to keep them busy so I expect there would be a lot more people taking up hobbies and such. The next hundred years or so will usher in more changes than have happened in the first 300,000 years in which humans were around.