The future...

[jonjel]

I put this on another board, but would be interested if a few of you got your crystal balls out (in private please!) and gave it a bit of thought:

I was talking to my techie guru earlier while we were making coffee, (I have just upgraded my phone and we were comparing the new one with my very first phone, as big as a breeze block and horrendously expensive. The new one is awesome)

He was telling me about the technology of all things related to cat flaps.

First there was the cat flap, and all the cats mates came to tea

Then the cat wore a small magnet and all the cats with magnets came to tea.

Then it went to infra red and only infra red equipped cats came to tea.

Now, the cat is chipped, and the chip and cat flap are programmed so only your cat can come and go.

Mind blowing I think.

So, where will we all be in 25 years I wonder (OK, I will be dead, but you get the drift)

[fascinating]

If you can cling on for 25 years, I think you might be able to live another 10 years, given developments in medical science which I think will be made in that time. That doesn't guarantee that your life will be happy though.

I think the advances in medicine will be exponential, so that if you get another 35 years there's some chance that you could keep on for much longer still. This of course might bring more problems for society as a whole, such as over population and the ability to afford pensions.

I still think that these problems can be solved however. Action should be taken now to give aid for the education of girls in poor countries, since that is shown to directly lead to a marked reduction in the birth rate.

I believe in the power of technology to solve most of our problems. For example a truly high-tech way of identifying individuals, such as now being used in India, should mean that we can track of people and make effective immigration controls and ensure that nobody is here illegally.

Some problems, such as the terrible loneliness of most old people, and the alienation of the young, have to be solved by people getting socially and, as St Paul said "never be condescending but make real friends with the poor".

[mrsonde]

People live longer because of greater wealth and better nutrition. Medical science has helped greatly increase our population, of course, because its effects are mainly on ensuring that the young survive, not the old.

What does "getting socially" mean?

[fascinating]

Sorry I meant to say "getting together socially".

[mrsonde]

Hmmmm...what's your rack like?