In
the Third Millenium...
- Evolution via natural selection is not considered heresy, and is in fact widely accepted by much humanity as the reason we are as we are.
- Speaking of heresy: atheism, agnosticism, nontheism, Humanism, neopaganism, pandeism, Wicca, the Baha'i Faith, Discordianism, Pastafarianism, the Invisible Pink Unicorn, Tupac Shakur, and a whole host of others religions and belief systems are totally acceptable in most parts of the world. (There is also no rapture in the year 2000, either.)
- Speaking of change in beliefs: it's okay to be things that aren't heterosexual white cisgendered males, and most everybody is allowed education, the right to vote, and the ability to have a career.
- Speaking of rights and equality: Slavery of black people is not only abolished, but black people are regularly elected to various positions of power, political or otherwise, such as the Presidency of the United States of America. They are also allowed to complain when they are treated unfairly.
- Speaking of America: it becomes a world power, and subsequently accrues trillions of dollars in debt.
- In magic boxes all around the world, man-made robotic structures from space beam thousands of moving pictures for the viewing pleasure of all classes of people.
- The chronic tendency for inactivity due to the above is a major factor in the fact that approximately 2/3 of the US will be clinically overweight or obese.
- Another such factor is the increasing appeal of restaurants that cook extraordinarily unhealthy food at irresponsible speeds. Such restaurants are typically franchised and turn bigger profits than their fine dining counterparts.
- Cocaine and marijuana are illegal. (People use them anyway!)
- An enormous knowledge network called the Internet allows you to transfer words and pictures along wires at lightning speed.
- Electricity's developed a lot from the 19th century onward. A lot.
- Math turns into a load of abstract nonsense. It works even better than ever, and 18th century math is even made fun of.
- Leibniz's formulation of calculus is more popular, and Newton turns out to be all wrong about physics. He is disproven by a German autist who is now revered as one of history's most intelligent people.
- Quantum physics and string theory.
- Chemistry is no longer alchemy.
- The 18th century is considered to have been doing medicine all wrong.
- People dress up as or partake in sexual activities with—or do both!—animals, and there will be enormous amounts of people who are totally okay with it.
- Some people live in their parents basements until the age of thirty or older, and refuse to get jobs.
- It's socially acceptable to marry at 35 and have a child at 40.
- People are allowed to spend money they don't have on things they don't need.
- The world population hits
1 billion in 1804, 2 billion in 1927, 3 billion in 1960,
4 billion in 1975, 5 billion in 1987, 6 billion in 1999,
and 7 billion on Halloween 2011.
Of these 7 billion people, two-and-a-half billion are shared among China and India. Also, the predictions for world population in 2040 range from 8 to 10 billion.
- We have a 'war to end all wars' in the beginning of the 20th century.
- Aaaaaaand then another worldwide war, plus the Cold War, Vietnam, the war with Iraq...
- Humour becomes so vapid it rolls back around to hilarious.
- The music is going to suck.
...Wait, what do you mean, it was a typo?
More ideas!
- jessicaj notes the proliferation of plastics in today's day and age.
- kthejoker remembers that the average life expectancy in the 19th century was 37 years, compared to today's average of 67 for the world, and as high as 80 in many developed countries.
- Kizor reminds us that we've also walked on the moon.
- Mouq shows us that we almost exclusively buy products made around the world, by people we don't know from places we've probably never been to. Buying local is necessarily a movement that hippies push. (Also hippies.)
[IN12#9]