Time flies so fast that it seems that the 90s were only recently, or that 2008 was just a couple of years ago, not 12 years ago. It’s already 2020, the world is undergoing many changes , including in the technology industry.
Artificial intelligence , ever more powerful smartphones that can be unlocked with a face scanner, and virtual reality are considered something incredible for few people, and yet we are still very far from flying cars and robotic assistants.
For many years, people have predicted revolutionary changes that will occur in the 21st century, but a large number of predictions have remained far from the truth, and the predictions are not just some people, but writers, journalists, futurists and specialists in certain industries.
Here are some predictions for 2020 that are so far from reality that they might even bring a smile.
Predictions for 2020 for the world
20.
People will live in flying houses
According to renowned science fiction writer and inventor Arthur Clarke, who, incidentally, co-wrote one of the best science fiction films in film history, A Space Odyssey 2001, 1966 homes will be changing dramatically in the 21st century.
In his opinion, modern houses will be able to move independently, change their location, which means that they will not have to move furniture and other things when moving. He assumed that entire areas could move south in winter or change their location from time to time if they got bored.
nineteen.
All people will become vegetarians
In 1913, Gustav Bischoff, ex-president of the American Meat Packers Association, predicted that over time, the number of vegetarians in the world would increase, and the diet of the people would consist mainly of vegetables. The newspaper The New York Times , he said that the future face a shortage of meat, so even the most wealthy people who love meat, are vegetarians.
18.
All people will have monkey drivers
In 1994, the RAND Corporation, which played an important role in the development of the US aerospace industry, as well as in the development of the Internet, believed that by 2020 there will be animal employees in the world.
According to the company, by 2020, humans will be able to breed intelligent monkeys and other species of animals so that they can perform certain manual labor. This information could be read in the book by Glenn T. Seaborg “Scientist Speaks Out” (The scientist speaks out loud).
The book says that in the 21st century, monkeys will be an affordable option for those who cannot afford a robot. They will be able to help with cleaning and gardening. In addition, according to the predictors, intelligent and well-trained monkeys could be used as drivers, which, as implied, would significantly reduce the number of accidents.
17.
All houses will be equipped with hoses for cleaning the house / apartment
New York Times science editor Waldemar Kaempffert, who has worked for the newspaper for about 30 years, had many views on how the world will change by the 21st century. In a 1950 Popular Mechanics magazine article entitled “The Miracles You Will See In The Next 50 Years,” he predicted that by the 21st century, all you need to do to get your home in order is simply “include hose”.
The fact is that, in his opinion, in the future all things will be made of synthetic or water-repellent materials. A person will simply turn on the hose with water and begin to wash the whole house, and the water will flow down the drain. After that, it is enough to pour hot air over the whole house to dry everything.
sixteen.
People won’t have to eat anymore
This forecast was made just 15 years ago. It was written by futurist and information technology specialist Ray Kurzweil. In his 2005 book, “The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology,” he wrote that by 2020 there will be “nanobots” that can “feed” cells by entering the bloodstream. and get rid of waste. As a result, they will make the way we eat food obsolete.
15
Everyone will have their own helicopter
According to the same scientific journal Popular Mechanics , but issued in 1951, every family in the 21st century will have at least one helicopter.
According to the authors, the helicopter will be able to accommodate two people and will be compact enough to land in any yard. It will not have a carburetor and ignition system. It will be very quiet, energy efficient and will use very little fuel, anything from heating oil or kerosene to aviation gasoline.
fourteen.
Human foot will turn into one big toe
In 1911, at a lecture at the Royal College of Surgeons in England, a specialist named Richard Clement Lucas made an interesting prediction. He said that “useless toes” will be used less and less, so a person will eventually find one toe on each foot instead of five.
13.
Vacuum cleaners will operate on nuclear energy
In 1955, Alex Lewyt, ex-president of the Lewyt Vacuum Company, predicted that in the future, every home would have “atomic vacuums.” Perhaps in this way he was trying to increase the sales of his vacuum cleaners.
Today people would rather leave the house uncleaned than buy a miniature nuclear power plant.
12.
All people will have the ability to teleport and read minds
Michael J. O’Farrell, founder of The Mobile Institute, has been considered a technology expert since 1985. But even experts can be wrong. In his 2014 book Shift 2020, O’Farrell predicted that 2020 will be the dawn of the “era of nanomobility.”
He believed that telepathy and teleportation would be possible by 2020, but they would become commonplace by 2040.
eleven.
The whole world will give up tea and coffee
How many words have been said about Nikola Tesla, and of course, one cannot deny his ingenuity and genius. However, it should be noted that not all of his ideas and predictions were close to reality.
In 1937, he predicted that after 100 years, coffee, tea and tobacco would no longer be in vogue. In his opinion, these stimulants will not be canceled violently. Many people themselves will come to the conclusion that it is simply not fashionable to “poison your body with harmful ingredients.” One can agree about tobacco, but what does coffee and tea have to do with it?
ten.
Everything will be made of steel, even baby strollers
Thomas Edison was an inventor who brought many new things to the world of technology from aerophone and light bulbs to nickel-iron battery and movie cameras.
But, despite his genius, not all of his ideas can be called great. Take, for example, his vision of the future. In 1911, he gave an interview to the Miami Metropolis, in which he predicted that the 21st century home would be made entirely of steel.
But the obsession with steel doesn’t end here. 21st century cribs will also be made of steel, he said. And while the child sways in a steel crib, his father will sit on a steel chair at a steel dining table, and his mother’s boudoir will be luxuriously furnished with steel furniture.
nine.
All people will move quickly through the pipes
In a 1957 article, Popular Mechanics predicted that every road and street in the United States would be replaced by a network of pneumatic pipes. You just need to get by car to the nearest pipe. Further, these pneumatic pipes can quickly deliver you to your destination.
8.
Mail will be sent by rockets
In 1959, experiments were successfully carried out to transport letters using rockets. That year, an American submarine sent 3,000 letters to various important people using a single rocket.
Some were so delighted with this case that they considered this method of sending letters to be an important historical phenomenon that will become popular in the future. At the time, delivering letters from New York to California, the United Kingdom and India in a matter of hours was a great achievement. Today we have something better – email.
7.
We’ll be eating candy cowards
In Popular Mechanics magazine, The New York Times editor Waldemar Kempffert predicted that in the 21st century, all food will be delivered to our homes in the form of frozen bricks. Cooking as an art will remain only in the memory of older people, he wrote.
Some will still cook at home, but others will benefit from the scientists’ research. For example, people will order frozen and partially baked meat. According to Kempffert, technology will be so advanced that it will even be possible to recycle ordinary items such as old tablecloths and underwear, turning them into candy.
6.
No one will work and everyone will be rich
In 1966, Time magazine predicted that the 21st century would be prosperous for everyone. In an essay titled “The Futurists”, the authors predicted that different robotic machines in the US would create so many things that everyone would live in abundance.
A person will not need to lift a finger to earn $ 30,000 – $ 40,000 a year. And these amounts refer to 1966, today they are equivalent to $ 300,000 a year.
five.
Everyone will wear hats with antennas and disposable socks
In a 1939 issue of British Vogue magazine, designer Gilbert Rhode shared his views on clothing in the 21st century. He suggested that by 2020 we will be phasing out buttons, pockets, collars and ties, and that men will stop shaving.
He also believed that men would wear hats with a radio antenna and that the socks would be disposable. The men’s suit will be without a tie, collar and buttons. He almost described the modern hipster, but a hat with an antenna is still too much.
4.
Robots doctors, assistants, friends
When we think about the future, the word “robots” comes up most often. Today, there are many robots in the world that do different jobs, but global trend expert Ariane Van de Ven had a richer imagination and daring ideas related to 2020.
In the book Shift 2020, she mentioned that in 2020 there will be a huge number of robot psychologists, companions, assistants and even robotic friends who will work for the benefit of people every day.
3.
All women will be like wrestlers
Back in 1950, Dorothy Roe, a journalist working for the Associated Press at the time, published some very daring predictions about life on Earth in the 21st century.
One of her predictions was that the average height of a woman of the future would be more than 180 cm, and their most popular shoe size would be 46. In general, in her opinion, women will be like broad-shouldered, muscular Amazons, and all this will be possible thanks to science. The diet of women will include a balanced ratio of vitamins, proteins and minerals.
2.
We’ll finally get to Mars
Many dreamed of conquering Mars, but only recently this idea began to slowly translate into reality. In 1997, the authors of one of the popular magazines “Wired”, namely Peter Schwartz and Peter Leyden, believed that in 2020 people would land on the Red Planet.
They even had concrete ideas for how things would go. They believed that, first, four astronauts would land on Mars, take some pictures and send them to Earth, where by that time 11 billion people would already live. This expedition will become a joint project of all countries of the world that have been working on its implementation for more than 10 years.
Today, even NASA believes that the very first manned flight to Mars, at best, will happen only in 2030, and only if we are very lucky.
1.
Anyone can predict the future
Many futurists of the past and present have predicted what they thought the world would look like in 2020.
One of them is Dave Evans, who works as a futurist (someone who imagines what the future will be) for the technology company Cisco Visual Networking. In the early 2000s, he was sure that by 2020 he would be fired from his job, since by that time all people would be able to predict the future.
He clarified his point by saying that humans will process an incredible amount of data. New algorithms and tools will open doors to new information. People will be able to analyze a lot of data and thus predict the future.