futuretimeline.net

futuretimeline.net (stylized as FutureTimeline.net, sometimes written Future Timeline or FT) is a website established by London-based writer and futurist William James Fox in 2008.[1][2] It features a far reaching timeline about notable future events based on several predictions made by various futurists, as well as articles about current notable events, mainly breakthroughs, in various sciences.

futuretimeline.net
Type of site
Website about future events, news website
Available inEnglish
OwnerWilliam James Fox
URLwww.futuretimeline.net
RegistrationOptional[lower-alpha 1]
Users412,100 (November 2020)
Launched2008 (2008)
Current statusOnline

Concept

Content

futuretimeline.net features a speculative timeline of predictions about notable events of the future of humanity and the universe[3] which is divided in four different sections:

  • "21st century" (covering predictions from 2000 to 2099);[4] "An increasingly globalised humanity is faced with climate change, overpopulation, dwindling resources and technological upheaval."[5]
  • "22nd century" (covering predictions from 2100 to 2199);[6] "Diverging paths for humans and transhumans, eco-technic societies dominate the globe, and colonisation of space begins in earnest."[5]
  • "Far future" (covering predictions from 2200 to 9999);[7] "Post-biological humanity begins to spread throughout the Galaxy, transforming dead worlds into computational substrates."[5]
  • "Beyond..." (covering predictions from 10000 to 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 ("end" of the universe as the website predicts));[8][3][1] "A future timeline of the Universe and its ultimate fate."[5]

Topics

The website contains predictions about various topics like artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, biology, medicine, business, politics, computing, the internet, energy, home, leisure, war, nanotechnology, physics, demographics, space, transport, infrastructure and many more.

Design

Over the years, futuretimelinet.net changed its site construction and appearance many times. Before 2013, there were five sections:

  • "21st century"; "An increasingly globalised humanity is faced with climate change, dwindling resources, overpopulation and technological upheaval."
  • "22nd century"; "Diverging paths for humans and transhumans, as conditions on Earth continue to deteriorate."
  • "23rd century"; "Humanity spreads throughout the local stellar neighbourhood, as Earth is restored to its former beauty."
  • "The Far Future"; "Post-biological humanity begins to spread throughout the Galaxy, transforming dead worlds into computational substrates."
  • "Beyond 10,000 AD..."; "A future timeline of the Universe and its ultimate fate."

In 2013, the sections were like they are today, but the 21st century was divided in 2000-2049 and 2049–2099. The description for the years 2020-2049 stayed the same as it was for the 21st century, and the description for the years 2049-2099 was written new: "Desperate attempts are made to stabilise Earth's climate, as a post-capitalist world begins to emerge."

After 2013, the dividing of the 21st century was removed, and the website was the same as today in terms of design, except for the thumbnails for the years and sections.

References

Most of the predictions of futuretimeline.net are based on current trends, long-term environmental change and sources like official documents, announcements or government future goals, extrapolation, lectures and (scholarly) articles, books or other literature by popular futurists and scientists like Ray Kurzweil, Michio Kaku, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Stephen Hawking, Aubrey de Grey, Elon Musk, and more and may be updated if new information is available, very similar to the concept of Wikipedia.

The website also features a variety of other references like artworks, graphics, interviews, videos, external links and more.

Predictions

The predictions of futuretimeline.net are generally more conservative and pessimistic than those of popular futurists and propose a slightly more dystopian future, for example, the site predicts that the USA will fall rapidly in terms of economical power and that "Climate change will begin to have a significant impact on worldwide commodities" and that "In the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere, growing instability will lead to a number of resource wars" in the 2020s.[5] In the early years of the website, it was also possoble to submit predictions.

Most of the predictions of the website assume that humanity will not die out until the end of the universe.[lower-alpha 2]

Other

Over time, more features were added to the website, such as a blog, a forum and more.[1]

There are also channels on social media as well as a mobile app.

In 2020, another website by William James Fox, called pasttimeline.net, went online, which should cover notable events of the past. However, the links on this website don't work yet.

Reception

ZDNet meant that the website "captivates" and the predictions are "intriguing", even though some facts listed are "great trivia", such as that the FIFA World Cup trophy will need to be replaced in 2038.[3]

wonderottech.com meant that "[...] Future Timeline, is a fascinating compilation of past and future events [...]" which "[...] combines the exciting with the sobering [...]"[2]

futurescience.com ranked futuretimeline.net the 8th best website about the future[9] and meant that the site "feels old-school in its design" but "contains an almost encyclopedic overview of futurist topics and is one of the few sites to attempt to delineate a timeline of progression."[9]

Feedspot ranked it on place 4 of the 50 best futurism blogs and websites.[10]

Page visits

In November 2020, futuretimeline.net was visited 412,100 times, 40.36 percent of the visitors are from the United States, 12.23 percent from the United Kingdom, and 9.24 percent are from Canada.[11]

See also

Notes
  1. Required for participation in the forum
  2. Note that in the 2010 documentary film The Singularity Is Near: A True Story About the Future, Ray Kurzweil predicts that humanity will be able to determine the fate of the universe in the future by filling it with computronium. He believes this could be possible until the late 22nd century by sending intelligent nanobots throughout the universe faster than light, e. g. by using wormholes. If assumed that objects can't pass the speed of light, he thinks it will take much longer but it is still the ultimate destiny for humanity to expand intelligence throughout the universe: https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2018/04/computronium-universe-computation-limits-of-computronium-and-limits-to-the-universe.html

Sources
  1. "Future Timeline | About Us". www.futuretimeline.net. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  2. "What Does the Future Hold?". The Wonder of Tech. 2011-10-04. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  3. Jablonski, Chris (2011-10-01). "Massive timeline of future history". ZDNet. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  4. "Future Timeline | Timeline | Technology | Singularity | 2020 | 2050 | 2100 | 2150 | 2200 | 21st century | 22nd century | 23rd century | Humanity | Predictions | Events". www.futuretimeline.net. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  5. "Future Timeline | Timeline | Technology | Singularity | 2020 | 2050 | 2100 | 2150 | 2200 | 21st century | 22nd century | 23rd century | Humanity | Predictions | Events". www.futuretimeline.net. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  6. "Future Timeline | Timeline | Technology | Singularity | 2020 | 2050 | 2100 | 2150 | 2200 | 21st century | 22nd century | 23rd century | Humanity | Predictions | Events". www.futuretimeline.net. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  7. "Future Timeline | Timeline | Technology | Singularity | 2020 | 2050 | 2100 | 2150 | 2200 | 21st century | 22nd century | 23rd century | Humanity | Predictions | Events". www.futuretimeline.net. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  8. "Future Timeline of the Universe | Timeline | Technology | Singularity | 2020 | 2050 | 2100 | 2150 | 2200 | 21st century | 22nd century | Far Future | Humanity | Predictions | Events". www.futuretimeline.net. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  9. "Top 10 Futurist Websites | Future Conscience". Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  10. "Top 50 Futurism Blogs & Websites To Follow in 2020 | Futurology Blogs". Feedspot Blog. 2018-03-19. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  11. "futuretimeline.net Traffic Statistics". SimilarWeb. Retrieved 2021-01-05.
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