A peek into the future - today's chyldren will work to 100

Anyone here remember the sci-fi movie "Logan's Run" (1976)?

Age 30 may be stretching it a bit for maximum life span but if our planet reaches the point where such a measure is necessary - that may have to happen.

Personally, I don't want to get old, nor age and get sick and sicker and sicker but not kick off (become a coffin dodger).

For years I have felt I'd never reach the age 50 - I have heard that some people know when they will die, and do not rule out that possibility.

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selidororous
Anyone here remember the sci-fi movie "Logan's Run" (1976)?

I think I've said it before: that movie was a documentary.

People in their 50s and even 40s are having trouble finding jobs NOW because of all the ageism going on - how the hell are they going to live (and support themselves) until they're 100?

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kman
Yeah, these predictions are ridiculous at best. But at worst they might be setting the stage for something sinister down the road.

It makes me glad I won't live to see it. Yes, I am 47, but I am in a faster decline than a spent shrew. I also believe in Right To Die, which means if I loose my quality of life I know how to hasten my demise.

+++++++++++++

Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

@ kman:
I agree.

I read an open letter which was written by a GP to one magazine.
He wrote that this "living longer" is nonsense.
A lot of people who are blue collar workers die in their 60ies - his
30+ years of experience as a GP.

Mr. Talwar: it will be natural for 50 per cent of the population to not be working.

Stephanie Seneff, PhD: At today’s rate, by 2025, one in two children will be autistic.

-> when you join those two estimates together, it will paint an interesting picture.

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mrs. chinaski
Mr. Talwar: it will be natural for 50 per cent of the population to not be working.

Stephanie Seneff, PhD: At today’s rate, by 2025, one in two children will be autistic.

-> when you join those two estimates together, it will paint an interesting picture.

The picture I see is of a giant dystopian society, where those who do work hold a great amount of grievance against the "useless eaters" who don't yet require support via massive taxation, and the "useless eaters" have an extreme jealousy against the working class and/or sense of entitlement.

This will make for a very interesting social relations dynamic.

I scratch my head when the techno narcissists bloviate on and on about how the future will be so wonderful. I believe it will be marked largely by resource scarcity, further class stratification, and diminishing quality of life for most humans.

@ Studio 54: I think you are onto something.

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mrs. chinaski
@ Studio 54: I think you are onto something.

Maybe I'm onto something, maybe I'm nutty. Maybe both.

But I don't think you need to have a Ph. D in sociology to conclude that 50% of a society being held responsible for 100% of the workload and 200% of the taxes is going to lead to an enormous amount of grievance and possible unrest.

Throw in diminishing natural resources and a global population heading toward 10 billion, and you've got the potential for a major dystopia. And we're not going to high-tech our way out of these problems. There will not be an app that produces fresh water or stops overpopulation. No number of iPads will diminish the rising sea levels. Google won't be able to do shit about vanishing topsoil.

Those who continue to work will largely become disenchanted and either drop out of the workforce or rebel against the system. People do not want to be treated as beasts of burden for everyone else.

Maybe I'm too pessimistic. I'd love to hear an alternative point of view.

But Studio, don't you know that nanites are going to make everything right? Yeah, I'm with the pessimists. I've seen this coming since the 1970's, which is one of the reasons I never sprogged.

I've been hearing a lot lately about how insects are the perfect food, and that we should get over our revulsion or in the near futures we'll all be living on insects, etc. Of course it never seems to occur to any of the futurists to limit family size.

I'm just glad I'll be dead before that happens.

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JoJo
But Studio, don't you know that nanites are going to make everything right? Yeah, I'm with the pessimists. I've seen this coming since the 1970's, which is one of the reasons I never sprogged.

I've been hearing a lot lately about how insects are the perfect food, and that we should get over our revulsion or in the near futures we'll all be living on insects, etc. Of course it never seems to occur to any of the futurists to limit family size.

I'm just glad I'll be dead before that happens.

LOL on the nanites, JoJo! I hear ya...

I've found that often times those who advocate eating insects, turning off your air conditioner, and limiting your fossil fuel consumption are those who are ultra-rich and do NONE of the above. When they say, "You should do 'x'," that's exactly what they mean: YOU should do it. Not them.

Meanwhile we've got a bunch of dolts who insist that the future will be one in which we buzz around in flying cars ... and meanwhile they fail to notice that the electrical grid will require billions of dollars to fix. And since we're $18 trillion in debt, there's no money to do it. And no political will to do so. But yeah, the techno optimists are correct... we'll be flying around in electric cars very soon.

Nevermind that we won't have the luxury of unlimited petrochemical fertilizers to feed 10 billion people, while simultaneously aquifers are drying up, topsoil is blowing away, and rising sea levels are decimating our coasts.

But hey... the future is really bright and the world will be a great place to grow up in during the 21st century. We'll have flying cars, and probably wifi in them, too.

@ Studio54:
This social relations dynamic is already present but on a small scale for now.

You can hear ressentiments about
"people who don't have any children", "people who don't work",
"old people who are constantly ill and therefore cost the health system so much money" etc.

One can safely assume that under deteriorating conditions those ressentiments will only
grow stronger.

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selidororous
Anyone here remember the sci-fi movie "Logan's Run" (1976)?

Age 30 may be stretching it a bit for maximum life span but if our planet reaches the point where such a measure is necessary - that may have to happen.

Personally, I don't want to get old, nor age and get sick and sicker and sicker but not kick off (become a coffin dodger).

For years I have felt I'd never reach the age 50 - I have heard that some people know when they will die, and do not rule out that possibility.

I'm amazed I've lived over age forty with some of the health issues I've had since a teen. Oh well.

One of the biggest problems is Alzheimer's, I've dealt with people who were perfectly healthy otherwise but the Alz debilitates them in a long, slow brutal process. Many old people could live independently and function fine if not for that crappy disease. Sometimes it's better to have a heart condition or something else to take you. If we cure heart disease and cancer but not Alzheimer's, you are looking at something like a zombie apocalypse of drooling geriatrics who cannot think or do anything for themselves.