Search 2030 on Manifold & you'll find a lot of markets predicting that various technologies won't be deployed by 2030.

No, it won't be shockingly similar; it'll be depressingly similar, because we all know how bad the current state is and we all know how very little will change

Was the world shockingly similar at the beginning of 2020? I’d argue yes. Sure there are lots of events that have happened, but in practice day-to-day life is unchanged.

@DanielPeters My daily life changed drastically by working remotely. I think that was pretty unexpected before COVID.

That's enough time for smart glasses to become popular. A video of a crowd in 2030 may contain people doing naruto-style ninjutsu with their hands to gesture/interact with virtual interfaces. That might end up looking... pretty different

@MalachiteEagle I have a feeling the tech will progress faster than social norms, even if smart glasses become practical you might still get harassed for using them in public besides maybe the bay area

@TheAllMemeingEye is there any record of how people in the street reacted to the first mobile phones? Can imagine there's some really niche archive footage on youtube or something

@TheAllMemeingEye found this, but not quite what I was looking for: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdAM8sy2AqQ

@MalachiteEagle I remember a lot of silly indignation - 'I hate it when people annoy me with their personal conversations & ruin the quiet of my public spaces'.

@CommanderZander

Anyone have good ideas for criteria? I was thinking ... does your daily routine 5 years ago look the same, but that's really kind of ambiguous.

@rohanvisme maybe a manifold poll asking the question, so it covers the average subjective perception?

@rohanvisme a video of a crowd in a city might be one example

I want to bet yes but really wonder what qualifies as "shockingly similar". Was the world "shockingly similar" in 2010?

@AlexanderTheGreater personally I'd say between 2010 and now there have been 4 shocking changes for a typical westerner:

1. The rise of ubiquitous smart technology and accompanying near total exodus of commerce, media, and human interaction to the internet

2. The rise of anti-establishment populist right wing leaders e.g. Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Jair Bolsanaro, Javier Milei

3. The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns

4. The rise of near human level generative AI

In this case I guess I'm thinking something counts if it was both extremely significant and seemingly super unexpected from a layman perspective

@TheAllMemeingEye those are definitely big changes. Yet I don't look back to 2010 and am shocked by how different life was. Maybe the day-to-day differences are easily forgotten or it's the boiling frog thing of maybe the practical impact on how my average day looks isn't all that different? 🤷🏼‍♂️

@AlexanderTheGreater lol what's the boiling frog thing? I hope you're not a professional frog boiler haha 🐸

@TheAllMemeingEye I'm referring to the old metaphor that a frog whom you put in water that you slowly heat up won't notice that it's being boiled alive. It's untrue, but might be an appt image for how change can be missed if it happens slowly and now "shockingly different" is barely perceptible.

@AlexanderTheGreater ah thanks