WORLD FUTURE SOCIETY – MADISON REGION CHAPTER
FIRST ANNUAL “FUTURE OF EVERYTHING” FORECASTS
MADISON, WISCONSIN - MAY 2003


Keys to the table abbreviations:



Demog = demography
Econ = economics
Environ = environment
GOV = government
Soc = society
Tech = technology
BB = Bob Bean
CL =
JBP = John-Brian Paprock
LL = Louis L
DS =
GL =
LG = Linda Gorchels
R =
KL =
Discuss = came from group discussion





Category

When

Where

By

Forecast

Demog 2007

BB

Weblogs outrank NY Times Web Site by 2007
Demog

BB

Books will not become obsolete
Demog

CL

Physical classrooms will be used for labs and field trips, non-physical class rooms for lectures, etc.
Demog 10 years

JBP

Epidemics will lead to a decline in non-essential interpersonal contact in the next 10 years.
Demog 10 years

JBP

Small ethnic groups will no longer be isolated, however some may become “luddite”
Demog

LL

Cheap wireless communications
Demog

LL

Will be able to connect with someone with the specific knowledge piece one seeks
Econ

BB

Credits so people can change career paths.
Econ 10 to 20

CL

SRI near term will overtake other investments.
Econ 20/more

CL

People won't have to work.
Econ 20/more

CL

Mission will be more important than salary.
Econ

DS

More unemployment
Econ

GL

Less private property, more corporate property, public will want more public property.
Econ 5 to 10

JBP

Global economics will have more effect locally.
Econ 5 to 10

JBP

More private security firms, insurance companies will drive the increase.
Econ

LG

Multinationals will affect local economies.
Econ

LL

Companies will pass burden of health care costs to end worker
Econ 5 to 10

R

Less free stuff and more fees on the WWW
Econ 10 years

R

Retirement delayed, Workers will have to work more years.
Econ 5 to 10

Discuss

"Money is Power" will become obsolete
Econ 5 to 10

Discuss

Web logs will become obsolete
Econ

Discuss

referencedesk.com will outpace google.com
Environ

BB

Environmental issues will become salient
Environ Local

BB

People will band together to protect water
Environ 10 to 20 global

JBP

Increased cloning of endangered species (plants and animals), but it won't work to solve pressing environmental issues and loss of environments
Environ

Discuss

Population increase plus change in household size will increase pressure on environment
Environ Now Local

LL

The moon will turn red tonight (fulfilled at lunar eclipse!)
GOV

DS

Governmental functions will be contracted to IT
GOV

DS

IT will allow people to organize to change government
GOV

DS

Government will decentralize.
GOV

DS

Virtual Plutocracy
GOV 5 to 15 international

JBP

Greater Push for Theocracies (Islam & Christian) will create mounting global tensions, peaking in the next decade
GOV 2014 National

JBP

Ninety percent of government will be automated.
GOV 10 years National

JBP

Euthanasia will become legal, but there will be a big fight.
Soc

BB

Will continue to need experts, but we will all need to be generalists, basic education will not go away.
Soc

BB

You will be able to get any information you want when you want it.
Soc 5 to 10

JBP

Growth of "Information Integration Counseling."
Soc 5 to 10

JBP

Thinner line separating illusion and reality will become problematic and epidemic; interpersonal relations and economics will be impacted
Soc 10 to 20 National

KL

Universal Healthcare in USA
Soc 10 years National

KL

Healthcare will change. More tech driven, personalized, efficient, more interaction.
Tech

BB

Librarian profession disappears, morphs to information counseling
Tech 20+

JBP

Growing Luddite communities continue to expand and confound the trends of technological advances
Tech now

LG

Hyper-living leads to high stress