The Expected World

The Expected World

An archive of expired futures — and a watch on the ones still closing.

EXPIRES: 1976

WRITTEN: 1971

I will also ask for an appropriation of an extra $100 million to launch an intensive campaign to find a cure for cancer, and I will ask later for whatever additional funds can effectively be used.

Richard M. Nixon · State of the Union Address, 1971


From the Archive

2025The standard of living has risen along with the size of the world's population since the…Simon, 1981Environment
2025The Analytical Engine has no pretensions whatever to originate anything. It can do…Lovelace, 1843Technology
2025We will start to see some forms of robot sex appearing in high-income, very wealthy…Pearson, 2015Culture & Society
2019After sixty years of devoted service, Moore's Law will die a dignified death no later…Kurzweil, 2001Culture & Society
2014By 2014, electroluminescent panels will be in common use. Ceilings and walls will glow…Asimov, 1964Daily Life
2014Indeed, the most somber speculation I can make about A.D. 2014 is that in a society of…Asimov, 1964Culture
2010The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be…Huntington, 1993Governance
2010Viewed within a multiparadigmatic framework, cognitive psychology may be the most likely…Gosling, 2003Culture & Society
2010TÉLÉVISION: L'objet le plus familier au monde. En 2010, plus de deux milliards de…Attali, 1998Culture & Society
2005The Soviet economy is proof that, contrary to what many skeptics had earlier believed, a…Samuelson, 1989Governance
view all expired →

Gate is Closing

2032Jarret supporters have been known, now and then, to form mobs and burn people…FICTION5 years, 8 months remainingButler
2035When wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will be converted into a…8 years, 8 months remainingTesla
2072If the present growth trends in world population, industrialization, pollution,…45 years, 9 months remainingMeadows
view all closing →