The Year 2063

One of my favorite songs goes, “There will be a day with no more tears
No more pain, and no more fears…”

I often wonder what the future holds, but feel liberated by the fact that I will never know. Like great theorists and intellectuals who have come before me I can postulate about the state of the world years from now and hope that I will be accurate in my attempts to explain the future, but in actuality the best I can do is guess. Through discussing and hypothesizing our thoughts about the future, I believe that we can take preventative measures sooner rather than later to understand the human species and our place in this world. These ideas are no use in the time capsule of my own computer, so I will share them with you.

By 2063 we will have an advance understanding of medicine with a cure for cancer, AIDS and HIV. Cloning, blood analysis and other accomplishments will have been made in this world, however the ramifications of modern medicine will be great, potentially creating diseases that cannot be cured. The primary health concerns will be carpal tunnel, arthritis, vision problems and hearing defects as a result of the many hours behind a computer typing away and staring at a screen and listening to music at high volume.

Violence will take new shape. States will not be invested in war the same way that we are today, because in 2063 human capital will be of little value to war. The crux of war will be man-made machines such as drones that will be so advanced that they will require little operational skill or ability. The tactic of self-sacrifice through suicide bombing or plane-crashing will be archaic and the spread of lethal diseases and chemical will be our greatest fears. Terrorism will be more advanced and networked in many areas all over the world. By 2063 North Korea will have tried to detonate a bomb on the United States, but failed in their attempts to blow up the country. As a result of this catastrophe the international community will understand the severity of nuclear weapons and will agree to thwart all nuclear programs. An international government will be established between countries where states are self-policing and mutually accountable to one another. The United States will not be the hegemon that it is today.

By 2063 we will have had our first woman president and potentially our first homosexual president. In fact, it is possible that democracy will be re-imagined entirely to be more accommodating of our 21st century needs. The term globalization will no longer exist because the world will be so inter-connected that there will be no need to explain this phenomena. English will still be the language of the world, but increasingly more people will speak Mandarin and Spanish.

Due to population control families will be limited to two children in developed countries. Alternative sources of energy will be discovered, likely in the form of a natural resource that currently exists but that has not been discovered for this purpose. To combat water issues someone will create a water filtration system that will allow individuals to rapidly purify salt water to utilize the 71% water on earth. This will not be sustainable, but will be necessary for survival. Further, someone will invent a filter system for the shower that allows you to only use 5-10 gallons per shower. The system will be replaced with new water once annually.

Education will not exist in the traditional sense, but will be primarily online using websites such as Coursera. Students will spend the majority of their time participating in online classrooms with students from all over the world, and then meeting periodically in person with students in their local area. It is possible that by the year 2063 students will have holograms of themselves that will sit around the table in a virtual room to share ideas and information with one another. Questions about ethics will arise as developers create brain chips that allow someone to access computer databases full of information simply by thinking about them. Peoples’ perception of themselves and their identity will not be tied to a specific country, but rather the people that they are surrounded by in their living communities.

I realize that this is a somewhat pessimistic view of the world and where will be 50 years from now. My hope is that despite these dramatic developments and advancements, humanity will unite to create a more peaceful world. That people will be more actively engaged citizens collaborating together to eradicate social issues and reduce divides across politics and opinions. Who knows, maybe we can create a world with no more tears, no more lies and no more fears.