Like it does now, but more so.

There’s a good middle ground to occupy between “everything is different now” and “nothing ever changes people.” I spend a lot of time thinking about consistency across eras.  How people act the same, or similarly, no matter the age. 

For example, people’s migration patterns changed considerably with the car.  Most of America is designed around having a car, whereas the car culture was layered atop existing infrastructure in Europe.

I’d say the biggest change now is not the internet, but the cell phone.  People can talk wherever, and so they are. 

My prediction is that as long as the satellites aren’t wiped out by an asteroid or something, cell phones will become more present in our culture, leading to some scuffles.  Right now there is a lot of angst over solo people dropping out of participating in a public space (speaking on cell phones while on a bus).  People who do this regularly don’t realize that they are essentially transforming public space into a private space that others can watch but are excluded from.  The old social norms don’t apply here, because this never happened before.

It’s a good metaphor for a lot of the problems that we’ll bump up against soon:  increased problems of public and private space.  This goes especially in America, where we are, for the first time, running out of space.  The frontiers all have people in them, immigration is on everyone’s minds, public spaces are closed off and people have to seek solitude in private ones. 

Used to be your home would be a cosy, cramped little thing because you could run off to the woods and be alone.  Now privacy has to be bought.  It’s a privilege that many people cannot afford.

Add that to the internet, which, yes, is an important cultural divide, and you’ve got people establishing far flung social networks with people who they do not interact with physically but have cultural artifacts and interests in common and, at the same time, a lot of angst about entering public space to establish communities of locality. 

Now, this will only be true to a small extent.  People will still see their neighbors on the street and know who they are and stuff.  The Knights of Columbus aren’t going anywhere, at least not until their membership stops getting social security checks and can’t afford to drive over. 

I’m going to guess that the able will begin to try to match up their far-flung communities with their physical location, which would be a pretty significant reversal of now, where you mould your interests to the neighborhood you’re in.  Gays not coming out in rural Nebraska, etc.  Since their communities of choice will seldem overlap with their physical location, people may begin moving to locations to establish communities of choice. Anime communes, blocks full of goths, and other sub-culture neighborhoods.  That’s what I predict starting to happen in 2019.

That, and depending on the rising cost of oil, we may see the end of the era of the car.  It’s a fairly extravagant means of conveyance, after all, and the average US Citizen is no longer capable of extravagance as a necessary activity of the day; to get to work, buy groceries, etc.

Also, a giant flood!

It will be a world where enough politicians and judges will have grown up using computers to know how the Internet works and what should and should not be allowed to happen on it.

Similarly, many will have watched the Deku tree die and might look a little kindlier upon the game industry.

Lastly, most people will have a flickr account that they upload to seamlessly from their contact lenses, which are also their cameras.

Nothing else will differ.

I’ve actually read “The Syndic” by C.M. Kornbluth, and while it’s a phenomenal story I don’t think “Mob rule in U.S.A.” signifies it accurately.  I demand my 35 cents back.