# Things we know about the future based on fiction **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 3, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825 "2015-01-03T02:32:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/61 "2015-01-09T15:45:46Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > As we travel from world to world, they each have one government, and each planet’s inhabitants all dress the same. Not just that, they’ll specialize completely: there will be warrior planets/races, and agricultural planets/races, and science planets/races. There will be no explanation of how the warrior races managed to evolve and colonize the galaxy without anyone procuring food or building the spaceships. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/62 "2015-01-10T17:21:37Z")
It’s nice to see that a lot of others think along the same lines regarding futuristic clothing. Apparently knits are going to be very popular. ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c67d28/32.png) [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_AL_Einstein)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/63 "2015-01-12T19:59:23Z")
There will be no country/western music anymore… ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/64 "2015-01-12T20:17:10Z")
And Roy Orbison will still be wildly popular. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/65 "2015-01-13T21:10:06Z")
The best fighting gear for women will be the chainmail bikini. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/66 "2015-01-15T14:12:01Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > In the future it really sucks to be the Statue of Liberty. > > It’s going to have a very bad day. Over and over again. There are many different visions of the future from many novelists and movie makers, but one thing they all agree upon is that the Statue of Liberty has no future. As will San Francisco’s Golden Gate bridge. Female experts whose professional expertise and reputation suggests at least two decades worth of study and experience , will still have a listed age of 27. They won’t have glasses, either. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/67 "2015-01-15T15:27:10Z")
You merely have to be “destined for greatness” or some such, to be allowed to leap frog your promotions over all of your _vastly_ more experienced and accomplished peers. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/68 "2015-01-15T16:02:17Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > However, no one will suffer from nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism. Heck, we can pretty much fix that now. Just a matter of cost. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/69 "2015-01-15T16:35:07Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > And those futuristic guns will be less lethal than modern guns. Not that it matters from the bad guys’ POV, because [they can never seem to hit anything anway](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy). ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/70 "2015-01-15T16:53:17Z")
Earth is destined to become the capital seat of power for a vast, galaxy-spanning federation of planets (or sometimes empire), and Earth humans will become a dominant life form in the universe, despite the presence of vastly superior (both physically and technologically) races like Vulcans, Time Lords, or Daxxamites. Also, the fact that Earth is in a relatively backwater corner of the Milky Way galaxy won’t hinder it from being a major major hub of intergalactic trade and politics. Cybernetic enhancements will always, always, ALWAYS lead down a road to a dehumanizing transformation into robotic monsters. Whether it be Robocops, the Borg or the Cybermen - using bionic replacements (even in cases where limbs were amputed or lost in accidents) will result in the loss of a persons’ (or species’) soul and basic humanity. Everyone will dress in full-body S&M leather fetish outfits. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/71 "2015-01-15T17:00:20Z")
The profit motif will be gone by the 24th Century, except for outsiders like the Ferengi. People will instead focus on being the best they can be. The best Admiral, the best Starship Captain, the best garbage scow Captain, the best new recruit aboard a Starship. Or aboard a garbage scow. Nobody, but nobody, will care about Latinum, etc. Except, for some reason, Tom Paris, before being recruited to help Tuvok round up the outlaws. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/72 "2015-01-15T19:01:30Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Also, the fact that Earth is in a relatively backwater corner of the Milky Way galaxy won’t hinder it from being a major major hub of intergalactic trade and politics. Of course, you can’t actually use the galaxy’s actual hub as a hub, it’s probably a giant black hole. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/73 "2015-01-15T19:02:44Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Everyone will dress in full-body S&M leather fetish outfits. Yes, just like now. 🙂 What? :o I really need to broaden my circle of acquaintances . . . ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/74 "2015-01-15T21:12:10Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Yes, just like now. 🙂 > What? > > :o > > I really need to broaden my circle of acquaintances . . . We should hang out. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/75 "2015-01-16T00:21:36Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Neckties, however, are a thing of the distant past. This is because shirt collars evolved to enormous proportions until they collapsed under their own gravity to completely disappear. > [@Maastricht](#): > > As will San Francisco’s Golden Gate bridge… Which is to say all cataclysmic natural or extra-terrestrial disasters will only strike major metropolitan areas, iconic cities and landmarks of note. All planets and moons explored upon by mankind have Earth-gravity somehow. All post-apocalyptic Earth environments are endless, arid, scorched deserts in which paper has become a material of awe, myth or legend. All alien planet deserts, invariably, have some sort of giant sand worm. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/76 "2015-01-16T00:46:31Z")
Interior living spaces will be either immaculately clean, scrubbed to the surface molecules, or spectacularly squalid. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/77 "2015-01-16T04:25:41Z")
Most spaceships are made up of an enormous amount of bashed together model battleship and fighter jet parts. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/78 "2015-01-16T05:02:15Z")
Neckties will be gone because the traditional collar, as we know it, will be gone. Men’s collars will be of the mock turtle neck or Nehru type. No one will sneeze. Ever. No one will burp, pee, shit, or fart either. The words shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits will still be taboo. No one will wear a wristwatch. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/79 "2015-01-16T05:06:56Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > There will no longer be any Muslims. Dune and Hyperion say hi… I mean salaam ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825/80 "2015-01-16T06:34:55Z")
All cloth, such as blankets and clothes and even table napkins, will be shiny and metallic and/or covered in glitter. The most fashionable clothing styles will include rings circling the body, hovering with no visible means of attachment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-know-about-the-future-based-on-fiction/708825.md?page=5)