12 Ideas to Write About Over the Next 60 Years
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It is an easy but dangerous game to predict the future.
No one knows what tomorrow holds, much less next month or next year. At the start of 2020, no one would have foreseen schools not being back and running or that university conferences would be canceling college football.
Although predicting the future is dangerous, that’s not to say that there isn’t some value in looking ahead and forecasting trends and general directions. As writers, there is benefit to occasionally spending some time looking ahead at what may be coming on the horizon in order to learn and grow our skill sets in accordance with our predictions.
History is written by men and women who were first in line. It is edited by those who were last.
In a recent brainstorming session, I pitched a question that I hoped would stretch my futuristic thinking. I wanted to think about what topics would be “trending” in 60 years (if trending is even still within common vernacular at that time). I also wanted to add a twist to the challenge by trying to identify what topics from today would still be around.
Basically, what will be new writing topics, and what will be old, but still just as fervently covered?
There could be hundreds of topics on this list, but here is my version of six new ideas and six old ideas that people will be writing about in 60 years.
1. Genetic Manipulation
You may not hear a ton about genetic manipulation today, but I am willing to bet you will hear a lot about it in 60 years. We already do prenatal genetic diagnostic tests. We genetically engineer and modify our foods and have been doing so for some time.
There may come a day when you can determine seemingly trivial things like eye color all the way up to life-threatening genetic diseases and mutations.
Either way, the principles and standards that go along with any or all forms of genetic manipulation will be a minefield. It will take some serious reporting and writing to make strong arguments for either side.
2. Age Ethics and Space Colonialism
In 60 years, we will likely be talking about colonizing other planets in our solar system. NASA wants to send Americans back to the moon by 2024. Elon Musk, SpaceX, and Virgin Galatic are already experimenting in space travel with high effectiveness.
This trend raises two very curious conversations, both of which will consume many writers. The first is age ethics. If travel to Mars takes weeks or years, what are the ethical ramifications of cryofreezing? The second great conversation will center around space colonialism. Will colonizing the planets be similar to colonizing the continents on earth? Will they be “owned” by individual nations or by coalitions and partner agencies?
3. Arts and AI
This conversation will be fascinating in 60 years. AI has already been set and programmed to learn how to write novels and poetry. In 60 years, who knows what it will be able to write.
My friends and I talk about this often. How long will it be until the first AI-written book wins a Pulitzer Prize? Or the first AI-written screenplay wins an Emmy? I don’t think we’re that far off.
In 60 years, we’ll be writing about how AI has transformed the art of writing and the arts across the board.
4. Truth-Determining Mechanisms
Most of the general public was introduced to this concept with the 2016 election, but it’s been going on for years before that. If you followed any shred of news over the last four years, you likely heard that the United States accused Russia of tampering with the election through what was basically a giant mass marketing scheme driven to incite fear and spread misinformation.
Video technology has already practically advanced to the point where it is hard to tell the difference between what is an authentic video and what has been fabricated. Imagine 60 years down the road. We’re going to be writing a lot about what systems have been set up to help us identify and validate “messages of truth.”
5. Population-Limiting Solutions
Here’s a crazy stat. In 1800, the world population level was at 1 billion people. Just 200 years later, it is up to 7.7 billion.
Even though population growth numbers have slowed down in the last years and decade, we are still growing at an exponential rate that will not be sustainable in the long run. I expect in 60 years to have some pretty intense conversations about what leaders and governments plan to do to restrict or manage population growth.
6. Mental Security
The world of security is always advancing to the highest level of invention. They go hand in hand. When people had cash and gold, they needed safes. When people got credit cards, they needed cybersecurity. Now social media has opened the door to an even more intense security question.
I think in 60 years, with the advancement of implants and wearables, there will be a whole new market for the highest level of security — mental security. People will be obsessed with guarding their thoughts as technologies will become even more adept and finetuned to what you are thinking before you even have to say a word.
Old Ideas
I know there are many, many more new areas and focuses that people will be writing about in 60 years, but those are some of my core predictions.
As fun as it is to think about new directions and new outlets for writing, it’s also important to take some time to think about those areas of interest that will still be around — those evergreen topics that will continue to be discussed year over year until the world ends.
The core six topics include:
1. Religion
Humans have always been intrigued by conversations involving morality, good and evil, and hope in the face of life’s difficulties. You may not like religion or practice any certain belief, but it’s certainly here to stay.
2. Love
From Marc Antony and Cleopatra to Kanye and Kim Kardashian, love has a way of lasting throughout the ages. It is the ultimate triumph, and people will be writing about love as long as there are beating hearts on planet earth.
3. Wealth
I put wealth and not money because although the form changes, the concept remains the same. People have always sought to accumulate that which gives them value, and it will be the same in 60 years, whether we’re trading rare space rocks or still passing around printed pieces of paper.
4. Science
I wanted to put technology on this list, but I believe most forms of technology stem from science. Throughout the generations and centuries, the study of science has shifted from topic to topic and method to method; however, each generation has been more or less defined by the way they ask and answer tough questions. In 60 years, people will still be curious. They will still be exploring and, as such, they will still need science.
5. Health
The more we’ve learned, the more we’ve deepened our fascination with the human body and its seemingly endless treasure trove of oddities and mysteries. My prediction for the next greatest health sector breakthrough? Sleep.
6. Education
This doesn’t necessarily mean formal education. I’m not sure if the traditional collegiate experience will still be around in 60 years. Rather, the focus on education entails the commitment to growth and development, of learning how to become better at a task, a skill, or a level of knowledge concerning a particular subject.
The forms may change over the next 60 years, but I feel pretty confident that in 2080, people will still be writing about each of these topics in great detail.
Relevancy and Readership
People tend to read writing for one of two reasons: It’s great, or it’s relevant.
Chasing after relevancy is difficult because, like our attention spans, the time that any one topic is relevant is rapidly decreasing due in large part to the endless amounts of data being produced on a daily basis. Therefore, being a relevant writer is tricky and can be a minefield if you don’t know what you’re doing.
That’s why you should aim to be a great writer first. Once you have begun mastering the basics, you can work to stay relevant and fresh in new topics as they appear on our horizon.
Maybe you’re not particularly fired up by any of the six new ideas I mentioned above. That’s okay. There will be hundreds of other new topics that are just waiting to be explored. The best advice to follow: Pick a few. Dig deep and get to know your subject material.
As you do, looks for ways to connect the new idea with an old idea that has been around for a long time. Maybe you want to write about how mental security affects love between spouses. Or maybe you want to write about how space colonialism is influenced by wealth.
I don’t know exactly what 2080 will hold, but I do know for sure we would do well if there was a generation of writers who were committed to connecting new ideas with evergreen concepts through strong, excellent writing.