We often think back on the memories and sensations that represented our past as we move through life. But not all recollections evoke a warm, reflective glow. In fact, some may leave us shaking our heads in wonder, making us question what we were thinking.
Imagine For a Second
Picture this: it’s the year 2063, and you’re rocking away on your levitating chair, a holographic cat purring at your feet. Suddenly, a wave of nostalgia hits you like an asteroid in the asteroid belt. But what exactly are you pining for, and what will your grandkids be reminiscing about as they zip around in their flying Teslas?
Fasten your seatbelts, fellow futurists! We’ve scoured the internet to compile the ultimate list of responses to the tantalizing question, “In 40 years, what will people be nostalgic for?” Will it be the feel of a physical book, the sound of our voice assistants, or something we haven’t even imagined yet?
From the delightful to the cringe-worthy, we’ve covered it all in this tongue-in-cheek article that’ll make you laugh, ponder, and perhaps even shed a pixelated tear.
No Privacy
“Privacy.”
“Odd since we haven’t had much of that in the last ten years.”
“There’s still some left. But nowadays, the first steps of reading brainwaves and pooping out the image that’s in your mind are happening.”
“Who’s doing that?”
Mistaken AI
“AI that makes dumb, funny mistakes and doesn’t run the world.”
“A world without AI.”
“As a person named Al, I have some concerns.”
Cashless Society
“Cash. Not so much the filthy stuff itself, but the ability to make untracked transactions.”
“IMHO, physical cash will never completely disappear. As long as people want to buy illegal things, we will need some sort of easy payment method, and cash works very well for that.”
“Many people do not have bank accounts or credit cards. They do work; they are handed cash, and they take it to places that accept cash. It varies across location and social class, which is not obvious to everyone. Cash is very much alive.”
Completely Clean
“Clean air and water.”
“Oh, that hits right in the Ohio River.”
“Pollution was massively out of control in the 1960s and 1970s. The feds took action, the EPA was created, the Clean Air Act was passed, and things have improved. Heck, the ozone layer has recovered, too, because of the global ban on CFCs. There has been some improvement. Heck, Nixon created the EPA! Kind of hard to imagine given the current state of politics.”
Already Exists
“I’m already nostalgic for like four years ago.”
“I’d even say ten years, and I’m not old at all.”
“Ten years ago, I was ten. I miss when my biggest worry was reading the right book over the school holidays.”
Good Old Times
“The ’80s.”
“Again?”
“Is this a Ready Player One reference or something?”
“Unsure. I’m old; I was born in the 80s. For all my life, the 80s have been touted as this mystical time that will never be recreated. And I’m all for it.”
Living Life
“Social experiences that were prevalent before the rise of social media, such as going to concerts or sporting events without documenting every moment on social media.”
“I bet that people will be nostalgic for how social media is today and refers to it as ‘a simpler time.’ I saw an interesting comment the other day that made me feel old. On a thread about how TikTok was rotting young people’s brains, someone was nostalgic about the good old days before TikTok when people would just play video games as it was a simpler time. When in the good old days, people talked about video games in much the same way people talk about TikTok now, like they’ll rot your brain and ruin your attention span because of the instant gratification, the addictive nature of it, blah blah blah.”
Completely Affordable
“Affordable food and heating.”
“We’ll be nostalgic for when houses were ‘only’ $1 million, not $5 million.”
“Where I live, affordable housing is an oxymoron.”
Oh, So Quiet
“Silence, dark night sky, forests.”
“Dark skies definitely become harder to find. There are still some remote wilderness areas or large deserts where you can see the Milky Way on a moonless light, but the percentage of land area where you can still see that is fading.”
Future Cars
“The sound of a car starting.”
“Going to miss that sweet STU-stu-stu-stu.”
“20-something here. Bought a 1970s RV last fall. Nothing like the sound of it cranking as it starts up. Reminds me of the 70s Plymouth my grandparents restored and drove us grandkids around in.”
Real Existence
“Mental presence. People will be physically in one location but mentally in another. As we push further into mixed reality, where a person exists will not be where a person is present. Trust me.”
Actually Shopping
“Brick and mortar stores, with the rise of online shopping and e-commerce.”
“Not just online shopping. Big malls and giant supermarkets have been changing the landscape for decades. There are lots of towns that are just residential areas with no commerce at all. People must drive to some giant mall where all the commerce is.”
No Nature
“Wildlife. We’re seeing massive die-offs of almost every creature. Insects alone have massively declined even since the 1970s.”
Democracy
“Democracy.”
“Shoot, I’m nostalgic for the half-baked version of democracy I was sold prior to 2016.”
Goodbye Games
“Well, a classic is 25 years, so most of it isn’t even a thing yet. Probably controller-based gaming since we’ll move towards VR experiences increasingly using sensors and our hands.”
“You have to use your hands? That’s like a baby’s toy.”
Classic Climate
“The Climate.”
“Oh, we’ll have a climate. It’ll just be… different. And not in a good way.”
No Ice
“Ice caps.”
“Oh no, is Tim Hortons getting rid of them?! Someone should do something! I’m being sarcastic, just in case.”
Silver Linings
“COVID. Just imagine weeks at home with your computer and a perfect excuse to avoid social gatherings. I kinda miss it (but to be fair, I was a key worker, so I never stopped working), still was great not to have to be sociable.”
“I wish this would make everyone push for it being the norm for jobs that really don’t need you in the office. They need to gauge what should be finished by what time without a useless supervisor micromanaging.”
Life Imitates Art
“In 40 years, we’ll live in a The Last of Us world. We’ll say, ‘Remember when all we had to worry about was Covid, sky-high inflation, and the increasing risk of nuclear annihilation?’”
“Ahh, good old days.”
Easy Life
“Food, water, and safety/housing in 1980, the population was 4.4 billion; today, it’s 8. Go figure…”
Super-what?
“Definitely the superhero boom. It’s already at that point we’re people are loving the subversions and parodies more than the actual serious take. The only exception is Spider-Man. Spider-Man is the one true hero we all love.”
16 ANNOYING PHRASES THAT MAKE PEOPLE IMMEDIATELY HATE YOU!
We wanted to know the most irksome things someone can say that turns you off! These online users didn’t hold back!
16 ANNOYING PHRASES THAT MAKE PEOPLE IMMEDIATELY HATE YOU!
OBSOLETE MILLENNIALS: 14 SKILLS THEY LEARNED IN THE 90S THAT HAVE NO PLACE IN TODAY’S WORLD
A lot has changed since the turn of the century – just ask this nostalgic lot!
OBSOLETE MILLENNIALS: 14 SKILLS THEY LEARNED IN THE 90S THAT HAVE NO PLACE IN TODAY’S WORLD
THE FALL FROM GRACE: 12 PROFESSIONS THAT WERE ONCE REVERED, NOW A TOTAL JOKE
These 12 professions that are now obsolete show how much the times have changed.
THE FALL FROM GRACE: 12 PROFESSIONS THAT WERE ONCE REVERED, NOW A TOTAL JOKE
FROM ‘OKAY BOOMER’ TO ‘UGH BOOMER’: 10 HABITS THAT IRRITATE MILLENNIALS
Each generation has its quirks. Most label it as an “old person thing” when asked why grandpa or grandma does something unusual. The defense from the other side is that “it was the way things were back in our day.”
FROM ‘OKAY BOOMER’ TO ‘UGH BOOMER’: 10 HABITS THAT IRRITATE MILLENNIALS