In Two Hundred Years

I think my two images of life two hundred years from now are the same. Two hundred years is a long time, ten generations in fact, and I think regardless of whether we take the current path or dramatically change our life styles tomorrow, it will all even out in two hundred years and both will take us to more or less the same place.

Just think about how far we have come in the last two hundred years; think about how much life has changed since 1809. Slavery was legal and huge business, no indoor plumbing, it was nearly impossible to travel faster than 35mph, unless in free-fall, and food came nearly entirely from local sources often from within sight of the house in which it was eaten. Human lifestyle has changed so much in the last two hundred years, that anything I can say about Washington DC two hundred years hence will be highly speculative, but here goes.

People will live in multi-unit dwellings, mostly apartments. The layout will be similar to family dwellings today. There will be several bedrooms, a couple bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, and a family room. There will also be a home office because many companies will switch to a telecommuting model. Telecommuting not only saves the employees commuting time, but also eliminates the need to rent and maintain costly office buildings. Some jobs however cannot be telecommuted to and will still require employees to be present daily.

I think energy will come nearly entirely from the sun. Recently, I saw prototype solar panels that looked just like colored glass. I think in the next couple hundred years it is possible we could see solar panels built into clear housing windows that are powerful and efficient enough that a house can fully run on solar panels hidden in its windows and on the roof. Power from the panels can be stored in batteries that fit inside the walls and under the floors. A typical family dwelling will also probably be able to store enough energy to run conservatively for a few days without sunlight.

Food will be almost entirely from local sources. Many apartment complexes will have large greenhouses on the roofs. The greenhouses will allow people to grow year round, limit bugs and weeds without pesticides, and partially control the climate to grow the best and hardiest food possible. These gardens may be communal, but may also be divided into tenet plots, or a combination. Water for the gardens will be collected from the rainfall, but may be supplemented by the municipal water supply.

Transportation will be accomplished by several means. I don’t think we’ll ever convince Americans to give up private transportation, we really seem to love that sense of freedom. Cars however, will look completely different. They will be totally electric. The advances in battery, motor, and safety technology will allow them to run for hours at more then a hundred miles an hour on a single charge. They will also take only minutes to charge and chains of neo-gas stations will spring up for people to charge away from home. For longer distances across land, electric bullet trains will also be an option. These trains will be more luxurious than before and will travel at great speed, perhaps two hundred miles an hour or faster. Airplanes may contain the last remaining hairs of the modern internal combustion engine, but they will be more efficient and will loose popularity to the trains as people become more aware of their personal environmental impact.

I also see the population shrinking during this time, as the human population self-adjusts to returns to less than the maximum carrying capacity. On a final note, I’m a little sad I won’t be around to see how close I am to the actual life style of humans in two hundred years.