Future Imperfect

Two British futurists, Ian Pearson and Patrick Tucker, tackle what the next hundred years will bring:  aquatic kelp farming, fusion power, telepathy, clinical immortality through downloading your brain, weather control, but there was also the geopolitical predictions like the break up of the United States.

6. One single worldwide currency (from Kennys_Heroes)

IP: Likelihood 8/10. This is very plausible. We are already seeing electronic currency that can be used anywhere, and this trend will continue. It is quite likely that there will be only a few regional currencies by the middle of the century and worldwide acceptance of a global electronic currency. This will gradually mean the others fall out of use and only one will left by the end of the century.

PT: Great try! The trend on this is actually more in the opposite direction. The internet is enabling new forms of bartering and value exchange. Local currencies are also now used by several hundred communities across the US and Europe. In other words, look for many more types of currency and exchange not fewer, in the coming decades.

I'm going to have to go with Ian on this one.  What makes currency valuable is its ubiquity.  The more widely accepted it is, the more useful.  That favors fewer currencies as electronic transactions become far more commonplace.

10. There will only be three languages in the world - English, Spanish and Mandarin (Bill Walker)

IP: Likelihood 8/10. This does look like a powerful trend, other languages don't stand a lot of chance. Minor languages are dying at a huge rate already and the other major ones are mostly in areas where everyone educated speaks at least one of the other three. Time frame could be this century.

And by the time we get to the era of Firefly, it'll be just Mandarin and English.

11. Eighty per cent of the world will have gay marriage (Paul) 

IP: Likelihood 8/10. This seems inevitable to those of us in the West and is likely to mean different kinds of marriages being available to everyone. Gay people might pick different options from heterosexual people, but everyone will be allowed any option. Some regions will be highly resistant though because of strong religious influences, so it isn't certain. 

I think this will be a lot sooner in places like the US, but 80% by 2112 seems pretty likely, yes.

12. California will lead the break-up of the US (Dev 2)

IP: Likelihood 8/10. There are some indications already that California wants to split off and such pressures tend to build over time. It is hard to see this waiting until the end of the century. Maybe an East Coast cluster will want to break off too. Pressures come from the enormous differences in wealth generation capability, and people not wanting to fund others if they can avoid it.

As they say, California by itself would be the 7th largest economy on Earth.  What California doesn't have is water that the Rocky Mountain states do.  It still comes down to basics.

17. Marriage will be replaced by an annual contract (holierthanthou)

IP: Likelihood 6/10. I think we will certainly see some weaker forms of marriage that are designed to last a decade or two rather than a whole lifetime, but traditional marriage will still be an option. Increasing longevity is the key - if you marry at 20 and live to well over 100, that is far too long a commitment. People will want marriages that aren't necessarily forever, but don't bankrupt them when they end. 

Interesting.  What will marriage mean when longevity is extended into the triple digits?

19. War by the West will be fought totally by remote control (LowMaintenanceLifestyles)

IP: Likelihood 5/10.

Psst, don't tell Greenwald.

I'll put this in the future stupidity files, where it can be dug out by scientists after the collapse.