The Way We Will Be 50 Years from Today: 60 of the World's Greatest Minds Share Their Visions of the Next Half Century

by Mike Wallace (Editor)

The world is an uncertain place, which is why the future and the unknown absolutely fascinate us. Veteran television journalist Mike Wallace asked the question "What will life be like 50 years from now?" to sixty of the world's greatest minds. Their responses offer a fascinating glimpse into the cultural, scientific, political, and spiritual moods of the times. Edited and with an introduction by Mike Wallace, this book provides an imaginative and thought-provoking look into our collective soul and the critical issues that underlie our hopes, prayers, fears, and dreams for life in the 21st century. Contributors include former presidents, leading scientists, noted writers and artists, respected religious leaders, and current political figures,

Genres: Nonfiction

241 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Myron Leon Wallace was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. Known for his investigative journalism, he interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspondents featured on CBS news program 60 Minutes, which debuted in 1968. Wallace retired as a regular full-time correspondent in 2006, but still appeared occasionally on the series until 2008. He is the father of Chris Wallace.
Wallace interviewed many politicians, celebrities, and academics, such as Tina Turner, Joseph Bonanno, Vladimir Horowitz, Bobby Fischer, Luciano Pavarotti, Maria Callas, Malcolm X, Richard Nixon, Pearl S. Buck, Deng Xiaoping, Ronald Reagan, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Jiang Zemin, Ruhollah Khomeini, Kurt Waldheim, Frank Lloyd Wright, Yasser Arafat, Menachem Begin, Anwar Sadat, Louis Farrakhan, Manuel Noriega, John Nash, Gordon B. Hinckley, Vladimir Putin, Barbra Streisand, Salvador Dalí, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, William Carlos Williams, Mickey Cohen, Roy Cohn, Dean Reed, Jimmy Fratianno, Morgan Freeman, Aldous Huxley, Bertrand Russell, and Ayn Rand.

Reviews

[Douglas Summers-Stay · Rating 2 out of 5]

You could make up predictions that are as likely or interesting to read. I would recommend you skip this one and read The Next Fifty Years: Science in the First Half of the Twentieth Century instead.

[Edwin Santos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tiene apartes muy interesantes.
Ver cómo personas destacadas en diferentes áreas como la medicina, astronomía, física, química, ambientalistas, etc. Expresan su opinión de predecir el futuro lo deja a uno un poco desconcertado ya que hay muchas predicciones súper negativas, cómo otras muy entusiastas.

La verdad es un poco molesto que la mayoría de entrevistados fueran estadounidenses y como la mayoría de ellos predicen un futuro catastrófico para los países en vía de desarrollo. Yo vivo en Colombia y estoy seguro que aquí comemos muchos mejor que en Estados Unidos y europa. Se que nos falta pero yo soy optimista y cada vez valoró más la riqueza de mi tierra. Aquí lo tenemos todo, el mejor clima, la mejor comida, gente muy pujante y súper inteligente, los mejores paisajes etc.

Para mí nosotros podríamos tener un mejor futuro que muchos países desarrollados 🤔

[Tim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only a few interesting notes from a few of the sixty contributors. Overall, the work is too unfocused, with some entries covering the present status of a very specific issue and merely wishing that research be better-funded for that issue. Some entries simply say things could be this way or they might not be.

[Edwin Santos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Copiar de Giordano

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick summary of this book might read “we just don’t know”. Many of the contributors to this collection of essays talk about how poor attempts at predicting are, and yet here is 60 attempts of predicting the state of things 50 years in the future, all wrapped up in one book. That being said, many of these essays are interesting, not only for what they try to tell us about where we, i.e. humanity, is going, but for what they tell us about the authors of the essays.

The collection of authors is a good mix of political, business, medical, and scientific leaders, with a smaller number from perspectives such as military, environmental, media, and human rights leaders. A rather surprising omission is any religious leader representation, though we do get a bit of the opposing view from authors such as Michael Shermer and Richard Dawkins.

Some of the essays are optimistic, some pessimistic, most fall somewhere between, with the full understanding that the future depends largely on how we react to the challenges we face today. Many of the authors focus their thoughts and predictions on their areas of expertise, but there are a quite a few essays where the authors try to envision the much more general state of the world and mankind in the future.

For myself, the most interesting aspects of these essays was to see which issues and challenges were brought up the most by the different authors. It is clear, whether you agree with it or not, that one of the biggest issues facing humanity at this time, according to these authors, is Global Warming and the environment. Other key related issues are population and the spread of diseases. Energy is also a key issue, which is related to the environment as the authors feel the need to move off of fossil fuels and towards renewable energy is a certainty. The next biggest area of commonality appears to be the technological advancements, especially in the areas of computer and information sharing. From a political perspective, the rise of China and India appears to be agreed on, though how the U.S. and the rest of the world react to it is more debatable. Terrorism and the potential clash of cultures also appear to be key challenges from the perspective of the authors.

I would suggest that reading one or two essays at a time is probably the best way to approach the book. Reading many of them one after another tends to make them blend together and one quickly forgets which author they are reading as well. I also think that leaving out any essays from the perspective of a religious leader weakens the overall effort. While I am not religious myself, it is clear that religion, in particular the clash between Islam and Western societies is believed to be a significant challenge for humanity, and something from the perspective of a religious leader would have been interesting and add to the discussion.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy ilustrativo libro sobre como sesenta diferentes líderes del mundo en campos científicos, políticos, ejecutivos, sociales y ambientales ven como avanzará el mundo hacia el 2058, plasmado en 60 ensayos.

Una constante son los problemas derivados del cambio climático que son los que repercutirán globalmente y si no se toman acciones ahora el futuro puede ser muy sombrío. Otro tema es respecto a las fuentes de energía, se verá un cambio que será voluntario o a la fuerza de las fuentes de carbón y petróleo a fuentes de energía limpias y renovables, lo cual cambiará la economía global.
El desarrollo de la informática y robotica, realidad virtual, máquinas inteligentes y uso de la nanotecnología en la medicina.
El desarrollo de nuevas medicinas, vacunas, drogas, una nueva forma más participativa y conciente de la población en su propia salud, además de que la medicina será más personalizada ya que cada persona llevará su genoma completo a la consulta. La posibilidad de incremento de enfermedades infecciosas, neurológicas, del cáncer, y otras derivadas de la contaminación ambiental que se agudizará si no se cambia el sistema a nivel mundial hacia una cooperación global.
Nuevos descubrimientos en cosmología que nos llevarán a cambiar nuestra forma de ver el universo.
Se verá a China superando en muchos aspectos a los Estados Unidos, y surgimiento de otros bloques, como la India, Africa y el Brasil.
Cambios en los sistemas de transporte de alta velocidad y masificación de las comunicaciones por banda ancha, lo que repercutirá en una mayor interconexión y en un concepto de la ciudadanía del mundo generalizado alrededor del mundo. Mayor mestizaje y comprensión entre culturas y religiones, así como incremento del comercio internacional y expansión de la democracia.
Se necesitará una educación multidisciplinaria y líderes con visión holística para enfrentar los desafíos del calentamiento global y un mundo más contaminado ambientalmente. El clima no conoce de fronteras nacionales y afectará a todos los países, todos los continentes.

En el último ensayo se menciona: "En el pasado, cuando chocaron naturaleza y la historia, la naturaleza siempre ganó, y la historia siempre ha tenido que comenzar de nuevo."

[D Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is some great insight coming from people who are leaders in their field of work. The individuals who contributed to this book are from all different types of professional fields (Journalism, Economics, Military, Geology, Computer Science, etc.) Although the last half of the book seems to offer repetitive ideas, it is a good read and will get you imagining how the world will or might be in the next 50 years. For the most part this book gives a rather optimistic view of the future. If I had to sum up the topics that resonated for me throughout the whole book they would be these 7 things: the environment, technology, health (particularly gene manipulation), resources, space travel, education, and the respectful and humane treatment of others. These are the 7 keys that may drive us toward a promising future that may be preserved for at least the next generation.

[Victoria Caro · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's an interesting read for the uninitiated, but nothing earth-shattering for those of us who stay up-to-date with science news. I found most essays to be safe predictions when not just wishful statements. Interesting to read, nonetheless, and it could be summarized in a common concerned for our environment, a generalized lack of hope for any improvement in human's conflictive nature, while much excitement for what technology will offer if we don't destroy ourselves first.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hope I still have this book fifty years from now, and I can read it and see what has actually come to pass. It being an American attempt at seeing the future, there’s a lot of concentration on health, wealth and wealth and health. A bit on global warming, on how it affects America’s health and wealth anyway. Stimulating reading for the flight home, it was.

[Cato · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro interesante y muy ameno. Muestra la visi�n de 60 expertos en diferentes �reas acerca de como piensan que ser� el mundo dentro de 50 a�os. Los avances mas impresionantes para m� son los que se predicen en la medicina y la inform�tica. La opini�n general es que todo ni�o de hoy d�a va a poder llegar hasta los 150 o mas a�os con sus facultades f�sicas y mentales intactas.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting short essays. I think they got somewhat repetitive covering many of the same topics and issues without adding much to the overall picture. They also seemed very tame, more an ongoing of today's situation without much imagination. I would think there could be very interesting speculation based on facts and science of today.

[Jeff Deck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting particularly to read this eight years after publication, and note the things that have already come true by 2016, not 2058. Many of the predictions were fairly conservative. But I found it useful to go through and note the ideas that seemed to be recurring -- I'll be stealing a few things from this book for fiction.

[P.T. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book dull. I love hearing peoples predictions of what they believe the future holds for us, but guess the stories of cancer cures and war predictions just wasn't what I thought it would be. I better stick with non-fiction space battles. :)

[Kirk Bower · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mike Wallace asks 60 of "the world's greatest minds" (I was busy) what the world will be like in 50yrs. Interesting read, but it gets in a mode of repeating itself. M.D.'s talking about cures, Economists talking about global shifts etc.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish reading this. It was horrible.

[Marge · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was certainly not one of the greatest books about looking in to the future. Although the writers are well respected in their fields, most of their thoughts were not that deep.

[Jahodge6 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Astoundingly fascinating and even somewhat ominous. Must read for most anyone.

[Jody Danforth · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book. I wasn't expecting a book full of small articles from various other people. A nice before bed book, if you only want to read two or three pages before nodding off.