Originally Posted by
Roody
Grayloon,
The environment and sustainability don't seem to enter into your vision of the future. To me, these issues lend great urgency to human attempts to predict and control future living patterns.
While it would be great if everyone adopted at least a car light lifestyle tomorrow, I don't see that happening. I'm not an optimist in regards to the environment. I've been on the periphery of that fight for a long time, sometimes in the middle of it. Its going to take a lot of education and, God forbid, maybe an environmental disaster or two to get real movement toward saving the environment. As a people, we are muddlers, just going along day to day until confronted with a problem requiring us to change. Most people are not at that point in their lives when it comes to the environment. Hopefully, it won't take a disaster or two to get that focus.
As for sustainability, its not clear what you mean by sustainability. Can we maintain our current dependence on petroleum? Probably not at current usage levels. Can we maintain lifestyles that enable people to live decentralized lives, I think so, though there will be changes in how that's done.
Its all a guessing game. I'll venture a few. In ten years there isn't going to be a tremendous change in how we get around and where we live. Some of us may elect to drive less, combine trips, ride bikes, and live closer to work. But, I see no radical change. After that, who knows? What I don't see is a return to the lifestyle of 1900 as one poster suggested.