POLL: What Does the Future Hold?

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Ah, a new year, and a new poll. (Like anyone didn't see this coming.) Anyway, the beginning of the year is always a time for me to think about the future, and what it will hold. Below is a poll covering a lot of different social and political topics, and I am asking for your opinions on when you think the following will occur - if ever. Some of them are mundane, and others would truly be earth shattering.

EDIT: I realize that one of the choices is "Within my lifetime" which is rather nebulous, as there are a variety of people of different ages here, and very few people have a firm grasp of approximately when they will die. So, if you feel like qualifying the statement with "I think this will happen in 50 years or so, and I am completely unsure whether or not that will be within my lifetime," feel free to note such in your replies.

Hope you enjoy it!

Poll Information
This poll contains 11 question(s). 59 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

Poll Results: What Does the Future Hold? (59 votes.)

Legalization of Marijuana (Choose 1)
* In 2005 - 7% (4)
* Within 10 years - 41% (24)
* Within my lifetime - 19% (11)
* Never/Not in my lifetime - 27% (16)
* It already is legal in my country of residence - 7% (4)

Gay Marriage (Choose 1)
* In 2005 - 5% (3)
* Within 10 years - 34% (20)
* Within my lifetime - 17% (10)
* Never/Not in my lifetime - 17% (10)
* It already is legal in my country of residence - 27% (16)

A Liberal U.S. President (Choose 1)
* In 2005 - 2% (1)
* Within 10 years - 39% (23)
* Within my lifetime - 37% (22)
* Never/Not in my lifetime - 22% (13)
* The President of the U.S. IS a liberal - 0% (0)

Human Travel to Another Planet (not the moon) (Choose 1)
* In 2005 - 3% (2)
* Within 10 years - 17% (10)
* Within my lifetime - 69% (41)
* Never/Not in my lifetime - 10% (6)

Colinization of Another Planet (Choose 1)
* In 2005 - 3% (2)
* Within 10 years - 2% (1)
* Within my lifetime - 34% (20)
* Never/Not in my lifetime - 61% (36)

Contact with Extra-Terrestrials (Choose 1)
* In 2005 - 3% (2)
* Within 10 years - 0% (0)
* Within my lifetime - 10% (6)
* Never/Not in my lifetime - 71% (42)
* We already have had contact with extra-terrestrials, and it's all a huge government conspiracy! - 15% (9)

Resolution of Conflict in the Middle East (not just the Iraq War) (Choose 1)
* In 2005 - 2% (1)
* Within 10 years - 8% (5)
* Within my lifetime - 31% (18)
* Never/Not in my lifetime - 59% (35)

A Nuclear War (Choose 1)
* In 2005 - 5% (3)
* Within 10 years - 2% (1)
* Within my lifetime - 37% (22)
* Never/Not in my lifetime - 56% (33)

Cure for Cancer (Choose 1)
* In 2005 - 2% (1)
* Within 10 years - 14% (8)
* Within my lifetime - 61% (36)
* Never/Not in my lifetime - 24% (14)

Cure for AIDS (Choose 1)
* In 2005 - 2% (1)
* Within 10 years - 25% (15)
* Within my lifetime - 58% (34)
* Never/Not in my lifetime - 15% (9)

Proven Existence of Dark Matter (Choose 1)
* In 2005 - 7% (4)
* Within 10 years - 8% (5)
* Within my lifetime - 32% (19)
* Never/Not in my lifetime - 19% (11)
* What in the hell is dark matter? - 34% (20)

 

Well I do not have much to comment my answers with by I do have a question. What the hell is Dark Mater?

 

Isn't that anti-matter? the opposite of matter.

Anyway first two already legalised in my country. We will land on another planet in my lifetime. We will not colonize. We will not see another nuclear war. We will see a liberal president. We will certainly not meet E.T. We will find a cure for both deseases within 10 years.

 

The first two questions depend on which country you're referring to. And is #3 even possible in 2005, given that the next US election isn't until 2008?

Dark matter

[ January 03, 2005, 21:13: Message edited by: Splunge ]

 

Splunge's link does more justice to the explanation of dark matter than I could ever provide.

@ Splunge - um, I'm referring in the first two questions to the country you live in. I thought that was evident by option 5.

You're right on question #3. The first and fifth choices are redundant. In order to have a liberal president in 2005 (option 1) then the current president would have to be liberal (option 5). My bad.

 

Aldeth - did you know that I'm on the official "don't bother calling him" list that polsters use? It's because I always give answers to questions without listening to all of the options.

 

Since when is marijuana legal in Holland? As far as I know, it is still only 'gedoogd' (I have to find an English word for that sometime. 'Gedoogd' means that it is still illegal, but the authorities won't do anything agaist it.) So, I didn't vote that it was legal in my country, but it will probably be legalised in the next ten years.

 

Gedoogd is just some word they use to keep the foreign opinions off our backs, it IS legal. How else would you explain getting marihuana at the apothecry as a doctor's prescription ?

 

Mes, Marijuana and other soft-drugs are legalized since IIRC 2001.

Aldeth, Dark Matter cannot be proven, if you see a star wobble around (and that can sofar known only be done by gravity), you wonder what matter that you cannot see causes the star to wobble, that matter can be planets, asteroid belts, etc. And they cannot be seen YET, seeing a planet by a distant sun is like spotting a firefly next to a lighthouse at a distance of 4000 miles with a telescope.

We only know that the matter exist by the effect they bring on the things we CAN see.

 

I'm assuming that much of the positive stuff will come with the second coming of Christ. It's not too far off. The negative means that the idiots will wreck things before that happens.

 

If they cannot put a person on the moon again (I do not believe that it even happened in the first place) then how can another planet be colonised?

As for nuclear war - a strong possibility within 10 years

Gay marriage - most people in NI will rebel against it but it will happen within 10 years.

A cure for all cancers (each person's cancer is unique) is needed as soon as possible, its just a shame that AIDS gets more funding.

 

The only legal use of marijuana is for medical purposes, and only with a doctors prescription (since 17 March 2003). Holland isn't an exception in this, even the US (or parts of the US) allows marijuana for medical reasons.

Coffeeshops may sell marijuana, because it is tolerated (or 'gedoogd' for the dutch), but it is technically still illegal. Selling soft drugs in any other setting than the coffeeshop is still punishable (even if you sell to a coffeeshop). Possessing and producing marijuana is also illegal, but it is tolerated if you possess only small quantities, or if you don't grow more than 5 hennep plants.

All in all, it is illegal, but many forms are tolerated.

Here are some links for the dutch:
Dutch drug policy
Are drugs legal in Holland?
Policy on medical uses of marijuana

 

@ Morgoth

I worded the quesion poorly, mostly due to the lack of space you have to ask the question. Whilie what you say is true, science cannot currently account for all the "stuff" out there. Even when you include the possibility of super dense black holes, space dust, based on the attractive forces you see in galaxies, it seems like we only know of about 35% of the "stuff" out there. 65% of the matter in the universe has yet to be identified.

This doesn't even begin to touch upon the fact that even though there are some galaxies that are getting closer together, the universe as a whole is expanding. That is the "repulsive force" but that would take this entirely off topic, as it has nothing to do with dark matter, unless of course the 65% of the mass we can't identify somehow pushes things further apart.

 

We had the trials on Marijuana, they ended and won't be continued. No chance of legalisation in Britain.

Gay Marriage in Britain, probable within the next 50 years if the world lives that long.

Liberal US president. I'd be very surprised if not within 50 years. Not sure within the next 10. A lot depends on the people put forward by the political parties.

I should think we could make it to Mars within 50 years, I doubt we'll colonise anywhere unless some Billionaire funds it for themselves to escape Earth. I will never find out if contact is made with ET's.

I don't think peace in the middle east will happen within 50 years.

I think there will be a nuclear device used as a weapon within 50 years, not sure if this constitutes Nuclear War though.

What definition of "Cure" is generally accepted? I would say that some cancers are already curable (by surgery/chemo or whatever) Least ways my Step Mother is "cured" of Breast Cancer and my Uncle is "cured" of Skin Cancer as there is no trace of the cancer left. I'm using the definition that you totally remove the cancer and leave a healthy person. Alas, there is a chance the person may develop cancer again in the future but it's not certain.

AIDS - More likely to be eradicated through a developed vacine (like small pox was) than to find a cure.

Dark Matter - some of the links include Black Holes under the heading of Dark Matter. (Matter that can not be seen, this is not Anti-matter) Is the existence of Black Holes not sufficiently proven yet?

 

I would consider a vaccine to be a "cure" for AIDS. True, we haven't found a "cure" for things like smallpox, but through world-wide vaccinations, we have effectively eliminated this disease from the face of the earth. So I'd say either would count. A "cure" could be defined as either being able to cure the disease once the person has been afflicted, or prevent the disease from happening in the first place through vaccination.

Here's another article on dark matter, one that states that 90% of all matter in the universe is unaccounted for. Read it here

[ January 04, 2005, 19:31: Message edited by: Aldeth the Foppish Idiot ]

 

One quick point...is marijuana really illegal in America? Sure...on the books it is. Get caught growing more than a couple plants and you are in deep du-du (although you will not do much time).

But...

I could have a bag of pot within a half-hour on any given day. As a teenager I have had cops "confiscate" my pot without pressing charges and I know numerous other people who have had the same experience.

My point is...well...hmm...i guess the general population really decides if something is "illegal" or not.


Edit...

Hey Aldeth...although I am sure some physists has done the calculations...I wonder what happens when you calculate the amount of energy required to accelerate all the matter of the universe (remember as well that the galaxies near the edge of the solar system are moving at a fraction of the speed of light...in other words...buku energy)...then convert that energy to matter through Einie's famous E=mc^2...that might provide some insight into the missing matter.

 

As you said LNT, pot is only illegal on the books. There are many ways to get pot in the U.S., and I'm sure the majority of Americans - especially those who went to college - have at least had the opportunity to try pot if they wished to. Still, if you're over 18 and get caught, there is going to be some penalty.

As far as the calculation is concerned - I'm a chemist, not a physicist. As you said, I'm sure someone has done it before anyway, but I certainly do not possess the knowledge needed to redo those calculations.

 

The Liberal government in Canada wants to de-criminalize small amounts of weed (up to 15 grams) for personal use. You can still get busted with more than that, or for gorwing or selling it.

This begs the question: What do you have to be smoking to vote for the Liberals in the first place?

 

Well, the only question I couldn't really answer is the one about there being a Liberal President of the US because I don't live over there and besides, I still have trouble remembering whether Howard is Liberal or Labor!

And as for the question about a Cure For Cancer, pessimistic though this may be, I don't think there will ever be a cure found and released to the public because if there ever WAS a cure found, that would be the end of the finances for research. And money holds power over some people. We can hope though. I'd say the same for AIDS but in a way I guess that's a disease that people are more aware of in general. But hey, what do I know?

 

The cures for AIDS and cancer, I think, will be found in my lifetime. However, there will be other things that will replace them, and I'm sure we'll come up with new carcinogens to pump into the biosphere.

Weed ain't gonna be legal in Australia for a LOOOOONG time, I'm guessing, although maybe there will be a policy of tolerance and discretionary enforcement aimed at actually reducing drug related harms. After decades of research, who'd have thought that could be a possibility? Oh wait, all those hippy pot-smoking small-L liberal elitists...

Gay marriage - not soon, but hopefully within the next 10 years in Australia. I don't see why it's even an issue, but they said there'd never be a gay archbishop running a diocese only fifteen years ago...

Peace in the Middle East - Not any time soon. Within 50 years, maybe. Not within the next 10, unless you count "liberating" countries as establishing peace (sorry everyone, couldn't help it).

Nuclear war - I said "never", but that's more out of hope than anything else. So long as everyone remembers that everyone loses in that event, we should be safe from nuking ourselves, although I'm sure us humans will find another way to annihiliate everything.

Colonising Mars - not in my lifetime. Landing on it, maybe, but I very much doubt that too.

Contact with aliens - as has been said before, the surest sign that intelligent life exists in the universe is that it hasn't made contact with us yet. Not in my lifetime, although I think it could almost be the best thing to ever happen to this planet.

Dark Matter - WTF? Well, unless you can see it or detect it, you can't necessarily prove it. There may well be an influence from it that is detectable, but the likelihood of people unanimously agreeing on an invisible phenomenon is lower than the odds of me moving to Texas and starting an "anti-anti-death penalty advocates" advocacy group.

@ Aldazar: I get confused about Howard too - the difference between Liberal and Labor is so slight here that you almost can't see it, especially when forestry unionists are voting for the Liberals.