# In 2065: What will people be amused by/incredulous about our current society? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 29, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164 "2015-05-29T23:45:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/41 "2015-05-31T16:29:05Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > No, more like “can you believe the masses thought it was acceptable for someone to run for president and try to force everyone to abide by their religious beliefs and enshrine their religion as the state religion.” Frankly, I’d be surprised if they aren’t _still_ trying to in 2065. People have been trying to use government to enforce their religious beliefs for about 5,000 years now and I don’t see the next 50 being the tipping point where everyone decides to make nice. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/42 "2015-05-31T16:48:18Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > It might instead be that abortion is unnecessary, because women can turn on or off the ability to get pregnant. So no accidental babies. Birth defects will be addressed at the fetal level and virtually eliminated. In 500 years, maybe. In 50 years, not likely. Especially with the movement towards more and more restriction on comprehensive sex ed and making contraception difficult to get and pay for. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/43 "2015-05-31T19:23:36Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Can you believe there was a time when there were _preachers_ who ran for president? Gosh, it sure must have been nice to have people running for office because they _believed_ in something other than money and partisan horse races. I don’t mind believing in _something_. It would be better if the ruler of the most powerful nation on Earth didn’t believe in utter nonsense drivel like fundamentalist Christianity. A little religion is fine. But you have to be willing to subordinate it to the realities of the real, and actual, world we live in. Evangelicals are driving global warming denial, banning sex education, banning evolution in schools, modifying textbooks to retcon the US as a Christian nation, reducing access to birth control, prolonging prejudice against gays, putting the sociopathy that is prosperity gospel into people’s heads, and a million other backwards, shitty things that make the America worse. Super-religious people should be marginalized and laughed at, not put in charge of the Rapture-Missiles. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/44 "2015-05-31T21:14:58Z")
The 9-5 office job will be nearly obsolete; people will work remotely – the idea of hunkering down in a cubicle for 8 hours will seem very quaint. Many service worker positions will also be obsolete, as Amazon insty-drones will deliver anything we want in 30 minutes or less. Southern California will be virtually without water and a dustbowl. Wildfires will consume whatever vegetation is left.\* The population will drop to 25,000 hardscrabble dirt farmers and other folks flee eastward (in \*Grapes of Wrath \*style). Oops, maybe this will happen next month; I read today that the Sierra snowpack has fallen to 0% accumulation. \*_Came pretty close to this for me in the San Diego-area Cedar fire. Almost lost my house.I fled to East Coast in 2007._ ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/45 "2015-06-01T00:24:11Z")
People are not just going to be PO’d at us regarding climate change, but also: -Overuse/misuse of antibiotics and antivirals causing massive resistance. -Destroying the rail system, including conversion of rails-to-trails. (USA) -Astonished that people ate meat, especially in the quantities consumed. -Astonished at the wastage of “bycatch” fish. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/46 "2015-06-01T00:28:35Z")
The same things that San Franciscans are amused by/incredulous about the other 49 states today. Perhaps that anyone would speak a language other than English. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/47 "2015-06-01T04:49:33Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > flim-flam preachers running for president Who exactly? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/48 "2015-06-01T09:19:25Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Who exactly? Huck. > **[Mike Huckabee defends Bible cancer cure scam: It's like selling 'catheters or...](https://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/mike-huckabee-defends-bible-cancer-cure-scam-its-like-selling-catheters-or-adult-diapers/)** > > Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee argued on Wednesday that he had not been wrong to allow his mailing list to be used to peddle cancer cures based on Bible verses because it was similar to selling legitimate medical equipment. The New... He’s a nice guy, I’m sure. But he’s a crazy. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/49 "2015-06-01T13:22:54Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Can you believe there was a time when there were _preachers_ who ran for president? Gosh, it sure must have been nice to have people running for office because they _believed_ in something other than money and partisan horse races. Can you believe there was a time when there were _preachers_? I’d much rather have people running for office who believe in money. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/50 "2015-06-01T13:30:44Z")
I think that they’ll be amused that insects weren’t a more common meal in the industrialized world. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/51 "2015-06-01T14:50:48Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > … Perhaps that anyone would speak a language other than English. I believe you misspelled “Mandarin”. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/52 "2015-06-01T14:54:16Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > … Southern California will be virtually without water and a dustbowl. Wildfires will consume whatever vegetation is left.\* The population will drop to 25,000 hardscrabble dirt farmers and other folks flee eastward (in \*Grapes of Wrath \*style). Oops, maybe this will happen next month; I read today that the Sierra snowpack has fallen to 0% accumulation. … The same drought will have depopulated AZ, NV, NM, CO, TX, and most of OK, AR, and LA. The routine 6’ snowfalls will have depopulated the northern tier states and the northeast. The hurricanes & sea level rise will have depopulated FL, and the gulf coast & Atlantic coast south of VA. IOW, it’s gonna get real crowded in TN since that’ll be the only habitable state left. Or really IOW, your whole premise is garbage. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/53 "2015-06-01T15:15:45Z")
I think that by 2065, advocating “free speech” will be considered a dog whistle, like “states’ rights” and “freedom of religion” today. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/54 "2015-06-01T15:27:59Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I believe you misspelled “Mandarin”. Uh, no. English is vastly more important than Mandarin today, at least at the international level, and the number of English speakers is going to rapidly grow over the next century (because, Anglophone Africa in addition to more people learning English as a second or third language) while the number of Chinese speakers is going to stagnate or decrease. China is certainly going to be richer then they are now, but that doesn’t equate to Mandarian supplanting English. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/55 "2015-06-01T15:31:30Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Another idea; the robots of the early 21st century will be seen as hopelessly primitive and limited in functionality. Yes, who could have imagined that by 2065 they would have evolved to KILL…ALL…HU-MONS!! ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/56 "2015-06-01T17:38:20Z")
The social and legal discrimination against women and non-whites in 1965 is pretty shocking, looking back from the far future of 2015. Like, really crazy shocking. My prediction is that in 2065, it will be seen as shocking that we expected low-functioning people to work for a living. There will still be plenty of jobs in 2065 for high-functioning people, but if you’re dumb, or lazy, or untalented, or have physical or mental disabilities, it will just be assumed that there’s no way you can be expected to work for a living, and you should just sit at home and collect a disability check and watch TV and play video games and drink beer all day. People will still _look down_ on you for being useless, but they’re not going to expect you to try to pretend to be useful. They’re going to know you’re useless, and they’re going to expect you to understand that you’re useless, so stay out of the way while the grownups handle things. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/57 "2015-06-01T17:42:10Z")
Okay, here’s mine: in 2065, people will be shocked that in 2015 we were still using human umpires to call balls and strikes in major league baseball games. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/58 "2015-06-01T17:59:38Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Okay, here’s mine: in 2065, people will be shocked that in 2015 we were still using human umpires to call balls and strikes in major league baseball games. Yes, and human players. And human fans. Imagine having to sit and watch a game for hours. Thank God we live in the future and that work can be done by robots. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/59 "2015-06-01T18:11:10Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > … My prediction is that in 2065, it will be seen as shocking that we expected low-functioning people to work for a living. There will still be plenty of jobs in 2065 for high-functioning people, but if you’re dumb, or lazy, or untalented, or have physical or mental disabilities, it will just be assumed that there’s no way you can be expected to work for a living, and you should just sit at home and collect a disability check and watch TV and play video games and drink beer all day. > > People will still _look down_ on you for being useless, but they’re not going to expect you to try to pretend to be useful. They’re going to know you’re useless, and they’re going to expect you to understand that you’re useless, so stay out of the way while the grownups handle things. I think you’re right that low-functioning people will be thought of as useless. But ISTM we’ve got about a 10% chance of your inclusive solution being implemented and about a 90% chance of an exclusive solution instead. e.g. Letting them simply rot in shantytowns ringed by automated killbots to keep them all away from the “real citizens.” Wasting (comparatively) rich people’s money on breeding future generations of useless drones will be a hard sell. Once we get the rest of the way to “one dollar one vote” it’ll be all over for the useless. Note I’m not advocating for this expectation, merely suggesting it’s much more likely than either you or I might wish. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164/60 "2015-06-01T18:41:59Z")
> [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#): > > … more people learning English as a second language. It is pretty easy for most adults to learn English as a second language. It is almost impossible for most people to learn Chinese. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2065-what-will-people-be-amused-by-incredulous-about-our-current-society/721164.md?page=4)