Researcher Roy Amara was an American futurist who famously coined the following adage, which eventually became Amara's Law: "We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run."
Expanding on the notion, Reddit user Every_Cartoonist3965 made a post on the platform, asking everyone, "What is normal now but won't be in 25 years?" and people immediately started sending in their answers.
Continue scrolling to check out the most popular ones and set a reminder to come back here after a quarter of a century — we'll know if there are any Nostradamus successors among us.
I hope it will be single use plasticHopefully Influencers.Hopefully family vloggersELDERLY POLITICIANSAt the rate things are going probably being able to use water whenever we want.Affordable college. Most degrees don’t need students to be in a brick and mortar building, I hope in 25 years the cost of college is significantly cut down.Hopefully workplace abuse. ? f**k blind following in the workplace, especially unethical or common sense immoral actions.I hope that loot boxes in video games will become obsolete after several countries change the laws so that a customer should always be able to know what they are buying. So microtransactions would still be a thing but no more buying random items without knowing what you will get.
I also wish that getting punished by police because you used cannabis will become rare in 25 years. I live in Finland and here using cannabis without doctor's prescription can ruin your life in many ways.Long commutes, hopefullyFax machine in officesThe sad: glaciers and snow during winter
The good: single use plastic and 5 day work week
The pessimistic: civilization
The optimistic: nuclear threatYoung adults having the ability to read and write. Gen Z is functional, but Gen A seems to be severely behind in their academics and they don't care.Hopefully, animal abuse and neglect. I feel like we're moving really slow, but every once in a while there's a big change for the better.The thin illusion of privacyOctogenarians in office.The current shorelines. The beachfront is going to be moving inland a waysSingle family homes in major cities owned by the middle class.A lot of jobsThe 40 hour workweekProbably a lot of the insects and wildlife around you, basically anything that doesn’t thrive by eating trash the way raccoons and crows do.
Even if not every species goes extinct, we may soon live in a world where few have ever actually seen a butterfly, dragonfly, ladybug, toad, firefly, etc. simply existing outside. Just like how many of us today have never actually looked up and seen a sky full of stars and the Milky Way, thanks to light pollution.We’re slowly seeing paperwork die out in hospitals as nurses. I often think about down the line when employees will think it’s crazy I worked when they still used paper. Everything is online now.Where I live: snow56754 different streaming services which amount to more than anyone ever paid for cableThe current s**t of an education systemRetiringOrdering food and drink from a human in a drive thruOwning things. Everything is slowly turning to digital or subscription modelsBeing smart/well read.Having a 9-5 among the younger peopleU.S.: Social SecurityDriving a car.
Our kids (or grandkids) will look at us like dinosaurs, as we describe to them how we used to be able to operate automobiles on our own.
Edit: for any one who believes self driving cars won't be available in 25yrs. Below is an article from McKinsey stating Level 5 (fully autonomous) vehicles are estimated to be conmercially available and viable for taxis and trucking by 2030.
https://www.mckinsey.com/features/mckinsey-center-for-future-mobility/our-insights/autonomous-vehicles-moving-forward-perspectives-from-industry-leaders
*for those that don't like reading it's under the section labeled "The timeline for autonomous-vehicle development is extending"Last shreds of self awarenessBroccoli head haircuts.
People are totally going to look back at them and laugh or cringe.TikTok “influencers” sharing their kids daily lives ?Democracy apparently.Breathing oxygen for free.40 year olds with wrinkles. Only the poorest will have wrinkles Cheap clean waterIf the powers that be get there way; Home ownership.Animal agriculture. At least the most intensive form of animal agriculture will be frowned upon in the near futureCriticizing the governmentThe nuclear family. It's already in decline, and now the majority of people don't live in this family arrangement. Extended families, lots of roommates, or living solo. But the nuclear family is ending.Cryptos
