ADVERTISEMENT
Article created by: Greta Jaruševičiūtė

Try to imagine the future a year from now. Barring some world-shattering Apocalypse of two (thank you, we’ve had enough!), it’s not all that hard to do. Now think of what life will be like in 5 years. Then 10. And finally, 50. Half a century from now, the world, society, norms, and technology may have changed very drastically. So much so that we’ll be nostalgic for a lot of things that we take for granted right now.

It’s tough to know what exactly you might miss in the future, but it's great for feeling grateful for what we have now. Prompted by redditor u/klausbrusselssprouts, the folks over at r/AskReddit shared some great insights and opinions about the things that people might be nostalgic for, 50 years from now. Spoiler warning: people's outlooks about the future are pretty grim. If nothing else, it’s a reminder of just how great life is right now, despite its challenges and imperfections.

Read on for a perspective on the present through the lens of the future, and don’t forget to upvote the posts you agree with, Pandas. We’d also love to hear your own thoughts about what you think many of us will feel a deep sense of longing for in the decades to come, so be sure to drop by the comments to share your thoughts.

Bored Panda reached out to the friendly author of the viral thread, u/klausbrusselssprouts, and he was kind enough to answer our questions in detail. Klaus shared that he has a background in history and social science, and has been a high school teacher in Denmark for the past 10 years. He said that the inspiration for the r/AskReddit post actually came from an exercise he often does in his own history classes. Read on for our full interview with Klaus.

#1

Laptop screen showing Netflix Originals menu, illustrating what people might be nostalgic for in 50 years. Owning something you don't pay a subscription for

JohnnyNumbskull , charlesdeluvio Report

RELATED:
    #2

    Two tigers sitting on rocks surrounded by greenery, evoking nostalgia for wildlife and nature preservation. The number of wild animals that exist and can be seen. They are already on the decline.

    SpikedBubbles , Thomas B. Report

    #3

    Smiling retro male mannequin wearing sunglasses and suit with nostalgic 80s style striped neon background. Being confident that the person they see on screen is a real person and not AI.

    XComThrowawayAcct Report

    #4

    Smartphone screen showing social media apps and text about privacy violation, reflecting nostalgia and future concerns. Privacy. Even babies are overexposed today.

    birdiewings , Jeremy Bezanger Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #5

    AdBlock logo with a red stop hand symbol and white text on a dark gray background representing ad blocking software. Adblock/skippable ads. In the future decade I can see repeatable unblockable ads becoming mainstream in places like YouTube, Netflix, etc…

    Semour9 Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #6

    Futuristic Audi car driving through a tunnel, representing nostalgia and visions of the future in 50 years. Driving. Imagine a world where all vehicles are automated. It would be so “retro” to manually drive a car down to the shops.

    Vilcunis Report

    #7

    Desert landscape with rocky mountains under cloudy sky, evoking thoughts about what people will be nostalgic for in 50 years. Wilderness spaces with little or no human settlement

    torgis30 , Juli Kosolapova Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #8

    Elderly woman and toddler looking out a window, capturing moments of nostalgia and reflection across generations. Grandparents will say to their grandkids “When I was your age, I had to get off the screen and actually GO to school”.

    Truck_Stop_Sushi , Juan Pablo Serrano Arenas Report

    #9

    Smartphone screen showing a Charizard Pokémon game interface, reflecting nostalgia for early mobile gaming experiences. That one month when everyone was playing Pokemon Go

    Tomatillo212Bailey , Anton Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #10

    Close-up of ocean waves under a clear sky, evoking feelings of nostalgia and peaceful memories. Water probably

    marvelloumac , Matt Hardy Report

    #11

    Futuristic cityscape at night with flying car and large digital face display, evoking nostalgia for future memories. Movies made 30 years from now. Nostalgia always runs in 20 year cycles.

    Rekthor Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #12

    Campbell's condensed soup can featuring Disney Frozen characters Anna and Elsa on blue packaging. I have a can of Frozen themed chicken noodle soup that I plan to sell when I'm 70 so hopefully that cause I don't have a lot of money in my retirement fund

    Significant_747Bell Report

    #13

    Smartphone screen displaying popular social media apps and notifications, reflecting what people may be nostalgic for. I'd say people will miss being uncontactable. Like back in the day, you could just go to your bedroom, and block the rest of the world away for a couple of hours. Now we've got video calls, phone calls, texts, emails. Urgh.

    mr_wernderful , Sara Kurfeß Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #14

    Close-up of a paintbrush with mixed colors on a wooden palette, evoking creativity and nostalgia in art. Everything about today's art, style, decor, culture, movies, shows, music and news events. It will seem old fashioned and from a simpler time, in 50 years.

    Bern_who_Learns , Daian Gan Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #16

    Person holding smartphone near laptop on wooden table, reflecting on what people will be nostalgic for in 50 years. Being able to be anonymous online.

    Smegma_On-Demand , Porapak Apichodilok Report

    #17

    Person pouring motor oil into a car engine, illustrating what people might be nostalgic for in 50 years. Being able to do basic maintenance on your car without needing a shop manual and a years salary worth of special tools

    kilroy-was-here-2543 , Tim Mossholder Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda