Future

What does the future look like in 15 years?

Everything is mostly the same. Advanced technology has progressed more and more. We have either signed a deal to switch to all-natural energy resources and have regenerated many dying species or gone in the opposite direction and destroyed the Earth even more. The water levels have continued to rise, causing most of the coastal areas to disappear and move people inland. Millions of more people have been displaced by a changing climate and economy, making overpopulation more of a problem in the "cooler" areas of the planet. Automation is in it's fullest form, causing little human interaction and resulting in problems of anxiety and public speaking to grow. I'm 35 years old, and I have made enough money to pay off my student loans or the department of education has decided to pay off student loan debt (how great would that be). I am a senior designer or CEO of my own design studio, using new programs and technology that didn't exist when I was in school. We have all touch-screen computers or holograms and do work more efficiently than ever. The computers do most of the work already anyway. I have a cozy home far away enough from the city I work in to get away. I have time to rest and pick up hobbies I've always wanted to try. Space exploration has become more popular again, with its focus primarily on Mars, and rovers have landed there and mapped the environment to be viewed on Earth as a complete 3D model. 

What does the future look like in 50 years?

(This is my utopian and idealized future)

Overpopulation has caused cities to expand upwards, and no single person lives on the ground. Only trees and wildlife is what's known of below the city. People rarely go down there, and we can see it's beauty from the glass above it. It's fully functioning on its own and it's beautiful, it grows upwards into the sides of buildings and has restored our oxygen to carbon ratio perfectly for our living conditions. There's only sustainable farming in the below, with machines that don't till the ground and don't use pesticides, giving everyone the best plant-based diet possible. There are workers that go below to tend to the plants and harvest them. We have signed a peace treaty alliance to live together as one people across the globe, sharing resources and ideas cooperatively.

In the above, we are the most advanced in technology that the world has ever seen. Much of our lives are lived inside of virtual reality. We experience almost everything through a screen. There is no poor or wealthy, everyone makes enough money to sustain themselves as much as they individually want or need. For fun, people immerse themselves in gaming and interactive experiences. Not much is done in the physical world. There's free public healthcare (the good kind) and education is available to everyone. There are free gyms and entertainment centers in pretty much every building. There's less packaging than ever, everyone is required to use reusable cups, plates, etc. Since there's no packaging, there's only food waste, which all goes into compost to feed the below. It's a beautiful place to live on Earth, but surely there is always the dark side to the moon so to speak.

Rebels that are anti-tech and anti-futurism have snuck out into the below to restore themselves to the "natural order." They live among the wild like the wild and are almost never seen again. There are some reports of them attacking harvesters and biologists that tend to the wildlife, part of why it's seen as a dangerous job and has extreme benefits to those that volunteer. Everyone lives mostly peacefully, with the choice of above or below right at your fingertips.