During the World’s Fair in New York in 1964, science fiction writer Isaac Asimov made a number of predictions about how the world would be 50 years later. Reading them today, you can see that the author managed to predict nearly all modern technological achievements!
According to Asimov, half of the electricity in 2014 will be produced by nuclear power plants, and solar power stations will operate in the vast deserts of Arizona and Kazakhstan. The connection will be satellite-based and spacecraft will successfully reach Mars.
These were actually fantasies of Asimov, who confirmed that the phones would become mobile and pocket-sized and that their screens would allow us to read books and see the photos.
Technical devices will work without wires, and long-lasting or rechargeable batteries will be used instead, said Asimov.
Films will be projected in a three-dimensional format and the time spent on cooking food and doing boring housework will be significantly reduced thanks to household appliances with automatic timers: toasters, ovens, coffee machines, etc.
According to Asimov, the view of the city of 2014 will change: some buildings and a large part of the urban area will be under the ground because in this way it will be possible to save energy for heating homes in the winter and cooling in the summer.
As a matter of fact, today, there are underground parking garages and whole malls! On the surface, there will be parks, backyard, and even grazing animals, the writer said.
The means of transport, in accordance with the predictions of the writer, will cease to come into contact with the road but will fly above the ground at a height of about one meter. The river and sea vessels will glide over the water and the speed will increase significantly.
Also, Asimov predicted that in 2014, the Earth’s population will increase to 6.5 billion and that 350 million people will live in the U.S. (on June 1, 2013, the U.S. recorded 316 million).
Population growth will force humanity to search for new food resources in the Arctic and in the deserts. For example, microorganisms that will transform yeasts and algae into nutrient foods will be used.
According to the author’s forecasts, the main problem of humanity in 2014 will be as strange as it may seem – the boredom! For this reason, psychology will be incredibly demanded and the job of a psychotherapist will be considered highly prestigious.
Today, all the predictions mentioned above seem ordinary and mundane to us while in 1964, these were bold, original, and absolutely fantastic thoughts. Despite the fact that not all Asimov’s ideas came true till now, maybe we will see them getting real in the not-so-distant future!
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I am his fan now !