An Illustrated Speculative Timeline |
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Perspectives takes up where the Timeline leaves off, offering more risky speculation and outright fiction about what the future may bring, than is suitable in the Timeline. Perspectives helps illustrate some of the possibilities implied by the Timeline, as well as how certain select personalities of various periods might perceive (and exploit or respond to) their circumstances. Perspectives includes facts and speculation about mankind's past, as well as its future. Virtually all credible historians and archaeologists agree that there's many puzzles and mysteries regarding our past that have yet to be resolved.
Both the timeline and perspectives take a highly optimistic view of humanity's possible future. This optimism largely ignores or heavily discounts the many threats to humanity's survival and prosperity which currently exist, and appear to be mounting almost by the day. Not the least of the risks sidestepped here stem from the latest findings of SETI and related astronomical research. For it appears most (perhaps even all) technological civilizations in our galaxy destroy themselves not long after they reach our current stage of development. The references supporting this conclusion may be found in my study The rise and fall of star faring civilizations. For my current best recommendations as to how we might avoid a similar fate, please see Civilization's best defenses against war, terrorism, technological stagnation, and economic ruin. For a somewhat philosophical perspective, please see The war for our destiny.
Before 2000 AD in the Timeline... | 
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2001 AD-2002 AD: Notable developments of the early years of the third millenniumThe USAmerican economy leads global capitalism and democracy into new and troubling territory, by increasingly encouraging business monopolies, anti-competitive behavior, and the spread of 'lotto economics', via lax government policies; the USA is also pushing increased censorship and secrecy, and reductions in civil liberties, free speech, and innovation worldwide, implementing these directly at home via new laws, and indirectly elsewhere as other nations follow its lead (or are paid or intimidated into doing so); software complexity is reaching crisis levels; and the hallmark of the 21st century (uncertainty) makes its debut in several big ways near the dawn of the third millennium. | |
2003 AD-2008 AD: Newborns get a longer lease on life, child entrepreneurs reshape business, Hollywood shaken to its rootsHollywood studios and other 'big' entertainment institutions (and their related elite) are being adversely impacted by PC and internet developments; significant extensions to life expectancies for newborns; child entrepreneurs are forcing big changes to business and employment law and practices, as well as rules relating to legal maturity and asset ownership; the net crashes some overpriced real estate markets; battery life in consumer electronics is improving dramatically; unmanned and remotely piloted aircraft (UAVs and RPVs) expand the scope of news and information gathering for the media and others (challenging the domination of public perceptions by individual geopolitical states and mega-corporations). | |
2009 AD-2017 AD: The net reshapes the world, 'perfect' organ replacements for the wealthy, contagious insanity, the introduction of 'second skins', and the rise of the vigilantesThe internet permeates our lives and begins radically reshaping our institutions, even as breakthroughs in other fields promise fundamental changes in living standards and all future human endeavor; personal computing gets still more powerful even as costs drop further; net users in the developed nations are becoming increasingly isolated in terms of typical historical human interaction; the first crude 'second skin' applications arrive; some forms of insanity and other surprising afflictions prove to be literally contagious; the danger of mass effect biochemical weapons use peaks for most developed states; the wealthy enjoy 'perfect' organ replacements; there are significant increases in the numbers of people taking to the sea to live and work; vigilante organizations rise in prominence and influence. | |
2018 AD-2025 AD: Consumer robotics and personal virtual realities go mainstreamPersonal virtual realities are taking marketshare from TV, radio, films, and other media; near paperless offices, wireless appliances becoming the norm; consumer robotics go mainstream; do-it-yourself medical care becoming ever more practical and effective for many ailments; adequate hardware to support human level intelligence at consumer level prices becomes available (but suitable software remains elusive). | |
2026 AD-2049 AD: Accelerated environmental decline, increased religious conflict, and a wholesale plunge into VR by citizens in the developed nations (to escape mounting stresses)The emergence of the 'Bounty Economy'; rampant identity theft and other cybercrimes lead to the first and most important privacy vs. security issues being resolved; substantial religion-related conflict erupts; budgetary priorities undergo fierce turf fights in the developed nations, with education and other consumer services usually winning; the human senses are technologically expanded in wondrous new ways; the final elements fall into place to allow software-based human level intelligence to become widely available; 98% of all cancers become curable; mini-subs and STOL/VTOL warplanes (both unmanned) are the cutting edge of warfare; tactical nuclear, biological, and space-based weapons use in conflicts not uncommon; traditional aircraft carriers now obsolete; troops enjoy numerous micromachine-based aids and supplements; environmental decline due to pollution, accidents, terrorism, war, and excessive harvests becomes alarmingly obvious now, but business continues to actively lobby governments for minimal regulatory remedies. | |
Beyond 2049 AD |
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Special treats... |
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Chronologies of select personalities/entities from the Signposts Perspectives |
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Other resources relating to the future and original appearances of futuristic concepts in literature and media |
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Miscellaneous new unorganized links [The most frequently updated portion of this page] |
...Military fans... (State-of-the-art war technologies of the 2030s, 2060s, and 2130s)
...Conspiracy theorists...
...SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) enthusiasts...
...and Environmental activists...
...J. Staute and the first immortal artificial intelligence-- relates how one talented programmer accidentally changes the future in an effort to cheat personal fate. He instructs his pet AI to someday return via time travel to save him from death-- no matter how long it takes for the required technologies to be realized...
...The Pearsall saga-- the story of a married couple whose exploits result in them not only becoming two of the wealthiest people in history, but also legends of deep space exploration for centuries to come...
...The story of Kerri and Cluke. A 21st century woman by the name of Kerri begins adulthood as one of the top cyber-thieves in USAmerica. With the help of her pet AI Cluke she not only runs rings around the authorities of her time, but also goes on to become an important element in many events of the centuries to follow.
The Timeline Page of the Ultimate Science Fiction Web Guide is notable for detailing where and when many ideas about the future may have originally appeared in literature.
The links below are some I'm considering for references in future timeline/perspectives updates, or other inclusion on-site. Some of the links may end up being discarded later for reasons of broken URLs or others. So consider this list to be 'raw'; that is, not all of the sites will necessarily be good and valuable links for the purposes of this page. I include them here because (A) this is a handy place for me to personally check them out when I get the chance, and (B), where some of the links do prove valuable, having them here gives YOU the earliest possible access to them.
NOTE FROM J.R.: I'm currently experimenting with site commercialization in an effort to at minimum pay for the cost of site upkeep, and at most maybe get a little income myself from this enterprise. To that end, I'm trying out embedding 'mid-sized' banner ads in the miscellaneous links section of this and other pages. END NOTE.
You can find out by clicking here...(and also send FEEDBACK)
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