I see myself being a judge with psychology knowledge background to see who is the guilty one in court, and for the world I see ww3 or the population has gotten so big that Nasa and other space programs are developing ways to make other planets inhabitable.

Locking the 'TES XII is dumbed down. TES XI was the best game ever' threads over here.

Honestly, for me its much easier to see what the world will be in 40 years, than to see myself in 40 years.

Honestly, I don't see a World War happening any time soon seeing as none of the superpower countries are really antagonistic to each other at all.

I doubt I'll still be alive then. Assuming I make it to 84 given my state of health, grumpy, probably.

World: In large, populated areas, water and garbage bills will skyrocket...especially in drier states/areas. Bottled water as a non-emergency/non-travel purchase will be regulated/banned.

Me: Hm. I'm 43, so I may be deceased.

Playing the latest TES game, probably.
I definitely won't be residing where I currently do.

It doesn't take 40 years for a war to break out. The gears of WWI were put into place because of harsh foreign policies and triggered by an assassination.

We have harsh foreign policies in today's world in several powerful countries and it takes minutes to assassinate someone.

I'm expecting a war in the next 40 years, but I highly doubt I'm taking any part in it. I'll be too busy being a highly paid doctor or dentist in Malibu, happily married to the love of my life raising beautiful, intelligent children. Or so I hope.

Your computer, ipod, ipad, g4, and whatever else I missed will be obsolete, and you will be saying "Wow, those were the days!"
Me? I have no idea. Gone probably.

A small border war was triggered by harsh foreign policy and an assassination.The treaties those countries signed and a continent of large and militarily untested nations already spoiling for a fight were the ingredients for WW1.

I highly doubt even Obama being assassinated by a radical Chinese group would trigger a World War.

All the upcoming countries in the far east have seemingly powerful and largely untested armies. Nuclear power in several middle eastern countries doesn't help balance things out either. If you ask me, we're at the edge, everyone is ready for it. The trigger is all we need, now I don't know what that trigger might be, or at what scale, but I don't want to harbor a guess either. Not on these forums at least.

But my point wasn't that WWI is going to repeat itself, just that wars don't necessarily require 40 years in the making.

War is a possibility every minute/hour/day, every year. Granted some days it's more likely than others....but I'm going to hope that a "big war" isn't going to happen before I die. There will be scuffles and smaller wars, but I'm not convinced of some kind of global "world war" yet. That said, we (as a species) may be a bit "overdue" for one.

"I remember when I used to have to http://youtu.be/sCCKGvzj1NY! Those were such primitive times!"

What... the...

That is true, but the climate in Europe before both world wars was extremely tense for a long time. A climate that I don't feel here, then again, the Australian mainland was virtually untouched in both world wars so maybe we're just oblivious to the political climate.
I also don't think any country in the far east would risk outright war with the US.

I believe WW3 is going to happen because well.....Things are just to dam peaceful! I feel like it the calm before the storm, and right now I just want the storm to come and go so I don't have war is coming feeling all the time.

I can't say I feel any tension where I am, but UAE is politically neutral, and Dubai in particular is absolutely oblivious to world affairs.

I went down to Iran early this summer, even driving to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and things are certainly more charged around there. You certainly feel a dissatisfaction in the air. Unanimously.

I haven't been to the US in years, but I keep contact with buddies and what not. The youth of today is just so aware, and almost everyone can feel the economic crunch, so they must have personal reasons to be involved now. I'd link to some articles and videos but I'm on my iPod at the moment. Perhaps when I get back to my laptop Id be able to illustrate my point further.

I have no idea about the political environment of most Asian countries, but I saw a guided tour documentary in North Korea. Though they obviously only show you what they want to show you, I didnt see any disdain from the general public, but rather the opposite, they seem somewhat elitist, and a bit too proud. Again, it's just one side of the story. Who knows what goes on behind the scenes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/us-seeks-smooth-but-unlikely-transition-in-syria/2012/08/08/7c5e732c-e125-11e1-8d48-2b1243f34c85_story.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War http://www.insightonconflict.org/conflicts/afghanistan/conflict-profile/?gclid=CJLaoO7p17ECFUo0pAodUkkAqghttp://www.vancouversun.com/news/Defence+department+wanted+armed+drones+Libya/7050678/story.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/26/papua-new-guinea-coup-fails http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/06/15/155080826/egypts-smooth-military-coup-protestedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Georgia%E2%80%93Russia_crisis?

I can't say I'm surprised seeing as Afghanistan has been a warzone for almost 20 years, Pakistan I'm not to sure about, but I still see those as situations that could lead to a minor war rather than a worldwide conflict. UAE and Dubai aren't militarized, and while they could easily become so, I don't think they would find any allies to help them instigate a World War. I also don't see how from their geographical position they would gain anything from a war with any of the major NATO countries.

The recession was a terrible event, and I will admit I have almost no idea of what is going on in the States at the moment.

North Korea is still almost a minnow in world affairs, and would almost certainly be shut down by NATO if they tried to start a conflict with any major nations, if anything happens in Korea it will be a military coup or an invasion from the South.

I have no idea. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say either dead or close to it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_Room!_Make_Room!

You raise interesting arguments for each one. You're right when you say most of these would most likely lead to minor skirmishes with neighbouring nations rather than full on wars, but there hasn't been a single war where every single country is at each others throats.

It's always started with these little events leading up to bigger and bigger ones over the course of several weeks, perhaps months.

Edit: sp

True, but most wars these days end with the big boys funding the side they want to win or banding together and curbstomping a nation that gets out of hand.

The world will be fine. I'll be dead though. Nobody in my family lives long past 50. Bad hearts you know.

I think the internet will take over EVERYTHING, and depending on whether or not a full scale war breaks out China will surpass the US on the global stage. Microsoft will announce the console to replace the Xbox 720 after a record long 38 year hardware generation. There will be children who never even knew there could be other consoles.

The desktop PC will be a relic, and lowering demand will cause the cost of building your own machine to skyrocket. All but the most wealthy nerds will never see a desktop tower, and instead will connote "PC" with laptops and smartphones.

I prefer the scenario where alienware laptops are given out with happy meals.