Gas-powered Car
Many generations have been extremely wasteful when it comes to fossil fuels and how we use them. The world is running out of our non-renewable supply, so, as the fossil fuels run out, I envision future generations relying on electric cars, or possibly some other form of renewable fuel to power their vehicles. I believe that people in the future will question our foolishness and wastefulness, and wonder if they could still be using gas if we had simply been more resourceful.
Shopping Malls
So many people are converting to online shopping, especially over this past year during the pandemic. Online shopping is incredibly accessible not only in a pandemic, but during normal life as well. Whether you are sick, injured, tired, or are just unable to get out of the house to go shopping, online shopping allows for you to purchase anything you may possibly need right at your fingertips. I could see people in the future finding malls surprising after everyone starts shopping online. They will probably wonder why anyone ever went out somewhere to pick up clothes or furniture when you can simply press a few buttons and have that same item delivered to your doorstep.
Snow Days
With the urgent need for online accessibility to school, education systems around the world have worked over the past year to create more-accessible, virtual learning. Now that the majority of students have some sort of internet access at home, snow days will very likely be eliminated in the near future. With all of the other technological advances over the years, it should not have been too difficult to prepare online learning with the right planning. People in the future will find it weird that we did not come up with accessible online school sooner, whether it was for snow days, students with medical conditions, or other emergencies.
Tanning Beds
Many people still use tanning beds to this day, but I believe that those living in the future will find it very surprising that anyone ever used tanning beds. I know it may seem silly to bring this up, but studies show that using a tanning bed before the age of 35 increases your risk of getting melanoma by 75%. As people start to realize the severity of the effects of tanning beds, hopefully less and less people will use them.
Solitary Confinement
Inmates can spend months, even years locked up in solitary confinement. Solitary confinement is shown to cause severe psychological effects and is even considered torture by human rights activists. Because solitary confinement is not giving the prison system the results it wants, I could see people in the future fighting even harder to abolish solitary confinement. Last month New York’s governor signed a bill that will end the use of long-term solitary confinement un prisons and jails. Many prisons are beginning to make the changes New York recently did, so I would not be surprised if solitary confinement becomes a thing of the past for future generations.