Pulitzer Prize-winning author George Will is reported to have said that the future has a way of arriving unannounced.
I’m sure a lot of us think about what uncertainty the future holds for ourselves and that of mankind. It seems two futurists that I have never heard of – Richard Watson and Benjamin Frazer – wondered the very same thing, and put their heads together to come up with a staggering set of predictions for 2010 through to the year 2050!
The predictions are in the form of a subway map, called the trend transit map for time travelers and covers trends and predictions in the areas of society and culture, geopolitics, science and technology, transport, news and media, food and drink, the economy, and environment and climate.
Here are some “interesting” predictions I picked up from the map:
- Within the next 5 years, the number of mobile phone subscribers will be four billion.
- Prison ships may be the new detention centers between 2020 and 2025.
- Cosmetic brain surgery could be arriving as early as 2035.
- Pilotless, hypersonic airliners may be taking to the skies from 2020.
- Robotic cops may secure shopping malls by 2025 the latest.
- 80% of the global population may be obese by 2030.
- The first moon mine may be in operation between 2035 and 2050.
Have a look at trend transit map for time travelers (PDF) and let us know you think about the predictions.
[via The Awesomer]