Isaac Asimov's Vision of 50 Years Hence
Video communication, decent but imperfect robots, psychotherapy, self-driving car technology, and processed food: these are some of the things Isaac Asimov predicted would make up modern life in 2014. The year was 1964, and his vision for 50 years into the future turned out to be surprisingly accurate. A few other predictions fell flat, like underwater colonies or human inhabitation of planets other than earth, but you can forgive the author his exuberance at the dawn of the space age. The BBC is running an interesting article looking at Asimov's vision and how it played out in real life .These days, most teens favor dystopian visions of the future , modern life is resembling dystopia in more than one way , and the world of peace and unity seems farther off than ever.
Who today has the prescience that Asimov did in 1964? Who among the 21st century's authors, film-makers, and thinkers is most thoughtfully envisioning the world that awaits us in 2064? And what lessons do they provide for us to learn?
Perhaps it's more difficult to recognize those long-term, far future predictions as they must, necessarily, be more removed from our current existence and therefor tend to be seen as "mere" fiction rather than as something potentially eventually achievable presented within a fictional framework. It's a lot easier to look like a prophet when predicting the near-possible almost-now. One doesn't have to wait as long, for a start.