The Age of ...

Ever wondered how historians of the future would define our present times? There are a lot of pretty dramatic developments in the world today. Oily politics, the rise of China, the changing environment, nano-robotics, to name just a couple. Here are some contenders.

1) The Age of Information - Access to information has been democratised through the internet. Everyone will leave a digital fingerprint on social platforms (some people will regret this when their bosses decide to 'google' them). Wikipedia becomes a 'corrupted' source people trust. Everyone will eventually buy everything through Amazon.com (Retailers die a slow death).

2) The Age of Energy - Oil use keeps polluting the environment. Oil dependency will cause one war after the other in the Middle Eastern region. This will increase devotion and anti-americanism in muslims. Leading towards more fanatism and ticking bombs. Solar energy will become mainstream once all oil reserves have depleted. Russia will build its economy on selling energy (and vodka) to other nations.

3) The Age of DNA / Robotics - We decode the human genome and eventually cure all illness. This allows people to live twice their lifespan, eventually becoming self replicating robots. All kinds of social structures will fail since the cost of living has gone up. Pensions become obsolete, liberalism becomes mainstream in politics. Humans will implant themselves with Isaac's three laws of robotics reducing crime levels to zero.

4) The Googlian Empire - Google will own 90% of all data transfer and with all that power comes corruption (despite their famous catchphrase 'don't be evil'). Culminating towards the building of a Death Star. Fortunately young Skywalker will destroy Darth Sergey in the end. Microsoft will keep assimilating desktops until google has completely RIA'd every application known to man.

5) The Age of Wet Feet - Global warming does not seem to be a hoax, sea levels rise accordingly. Extreme weather and hurricanes become a weekly event. India and China compete who can produce the highest co2 emission. Despite falling levels the US still refuse to sign any agreement on reduction.