Well, it seems a lot of scientists a lot smarter than me are predicting that we'll deplete a large number of critical resources in the next fifty years perhaps we should reconsider "500 years."  At the very least, there will be a whole lot fewer of us.

I suspect humanity will become like a Borg collective. First we will plug into a communal communications system like the Internet. Then our individual identities will begin to merge as public education systems become defunct and the government programs all the heart out of us. Then we'll invent robot technology that basically turns us into cyborgs as our mentalities challenge failing biology and lifespans become absurdly long. Finally we'll reach out to the stars, and being very much like viruses without any morality beyond ourselves, infect other worlds, consuming technology and resources. In effect, we will become the evil aliens we've always loved in the science fiction stories.

 Johray63 wrote: 
It'll certainly reach some peak - when the food runs out. Doubtless while that little hiccup is being sorted out Mother Nature, with a little help from mankind, will enact the mother of all down-sizing procedures.

 oldslabsides wrote: 
I heard an expert state that the growth of the world population will stagnate at 9 billion.

George Carlin: Someone asked me what I'd want them to say about me in a hundred years. "There goes that damned George Carlin, a hundred-and-forty-five years old!"

 

 hobiejoe wrote: 
Dreamer! The continents are drifting apart too fast for that to ever happen.

I foresee a bright future in which parcels are despatched between continents in mere months. Possibly by way of "Heavier-than-air" machines.

 callum wrote: 

So Do Prosthetic Limbs Give Sprinters an Advantage Or Not?

Does anyone think we will become bionic?  If a prosthetic leg actually became more functional than a real one, which would you rather?  Will our soldiers have retinal implants that see in UV and IR too?  Can we ever move on from the sheer 'ickyness' of that idea?

 oldslabsides wrote: 

Not at this rate of global warming.

Outsourced to Alpha Centuri IV.

Winter will be king.

In the future, I will eat dinner.

brandog wrote:
He's not already?  ;)

Steve Buscemi will be a revered ancient prophet.

hippiechick wrote: Boy...that is a very different point of view than your recent support of Israel bombing the hell out of Gaza, just because Israel is "your peeps".....  I much rather have the Lennon references. 
I like to imagine that YMMV is what your heart is really about.

 maryte wrote: 
Thanks!

 hippiechick wrote: 

Your Mileage May Vary

 Xeric wrote: 
What is YMMV?

Us v. them. The collective unconscious. This is the basis of religion. (I am not talking about spirituality, the belief in a god.) When we start to recognize that we are all connected and that we need to care for each other, instead of having the attitude "Where's mine?" or "My god is the right one" then things will change. We need to change the collective unconscious to the collective consciousness.

If everyone has food, housing, freedom, love, and then add to that, healthcare, education, their basic needs will be more closely met and they will not have the need to hate.

The word to "Imagine" says it all:
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

 Xeric wrote: 
Perzactly.

By what logic can one ignore endless population growth in a place with finite resources?