Ten Amazing Predictions for 2024 from Fiction – Listverse

We are only a few weeks into 2024 and yet it already feels like this year is going to be a turbulent one. Attacks in Israel, hostages in Gaza, bombs falling on Yemen, a Japanese plane crashing in a blaze – we are truly living in wild times.

But perhaps 2024 was always destined to be a year of global chaos and dramatic change. After all, it is the setting for a wealth of enchanting fiction. From augmented psychic dogs to spiritual space travel, from energy crises and race riots to computer-simulated reality, here’s a look at what the next twelve months could have in store according to some of art’s most imaginative thinkers.

Related: Top 10 Twisted Theories About the Future of Technology

10 Highlander II: Extreme measures to prevent environmental destruction

The original Highlander is something of a cult film, a beloved warrior adventure from the mid-eighties that struck a chord with many fans of the genre. The 1991 sequel, on the other hand, does not. It is one of the few films to receive a 0% score from Rotten Tomatoes critics, even being described by the late Roger Ebert as “the most hilariously incomprehensible movie I’ve seen in a long time.”

But while most viewers can agree that it has little artistic merit, what does it tell us about the year ahead? Highlander II portrays 2024 as a time of environmental disaster. Humanity has destroyed the ozone layer, exposing the Earth to a deadly onslaught of solar radiation. Luckily, our main man, Christopher Lambert, has a solution: a laser-powered shield to deflect the sun’s rays. Only it plunges the planet into endless darkness, as temperatures and humidity become almost unbearable.

Last summer saw record-breaking heat waves, and scientists say the holes in the ozone layer are widening at an alarming rate. Highlander II may be a ridiculous, unpopular film, but its central themes may be closer to home than we’d like to believe.^[]

9 Simulacron-3: Questioning the artificial nature of reality

A groundbreaking work of science fiction, Simulacron-3s vision for the new year is far from it Highlander II. But the 1964 novel is just as surreal. In an early example of the cyberpunk genre, author Daniel Galouye imagines a future of virtual landscapes and simulated realities.

It is believed that the story was influenced indirectly The Matrix, as well as inspiring film and TV adaptations of their own. In the book we see scientists designing something known as a ‘total environment simulator’. The team develops a city in which everything and everyone is computer generated. The people who live there participate in market research without any idea that their world is fake. But a series of strange events leaves one of the programmers wondering if he too is living in a virtual reality.

Simulation theory, the idea that the world as we know it is a very complex computer program, has been under discussion for some time. Leading minds like Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom have written scholarly articles reflecting on the artificial nature of reality. Maybe 2024 is about to throw us a curveball as the year we take the red pill and break free from our automated fake reality. Who knows what the future will bring?^[2]

8 Narcopolis: Legalizing drugs strengthens Big Pharma’s shady practices

Aside from a handful of reviews, Justin Trefgarne’s debut film wasn’t exactly well received upon its release in 2015. The techno-thriller is set in future Britain, where the government has legalized all drugs. Ambro, a shady pharmaceutical company, comes up with a powerful new type of narcotic. The film follows Frank Grieves, a police officer and former addict, in his search for the truth about Ambro.

from Narcopolis The idea of ​​2024 is mixed. Distrust in big pharmaceutical companies has swept through Western society in recent years and shows no signs of slowing down. But the British government says it has “no plans to change our tough stance on drugs.” In July 2023, Sunak’s government blocked a Scottish government proposal to abolish criminal penalties around possession for personal use.^[3]

7 The Outer Limits: Wild Martians lurking beneath the sand

Rabid monsters that live beneath the vast sandy plains of Mars. That is what The outer limits people they would have imagined in 2024. Their episode “The Invisible Enemy” first aired in 1964 and features a team of astronauts encountering deadly sand aliens on a mission to the red planet.

Now that we are living in 2024, how feasible would it be for astronauts to travel to Mars? The honest answer is that the technology doesn’t exist yet, but scientists are trying to get us there. NASA claims to be working on ways “to send astronauts to Mars as early as the 2030s.” They say advanced propulsion systems, inflatable landing gear and state-of-the-art spacesuits should help them on their journey to the red planet.

Who knows? Perhaps sometime next decade we too will come face to face with a sand sample from Mars.^[4]

6 A boy and his dog: telepathic canines after the apocalypse

Fiction has given us a wealth of speculation about what the world might look like after an apocalypse. Most are nightmarish visions showing Earth ravaged by nuclear war or environmental disaster. Very few have a telepathic dog.

But for author Harlan Ellison – and for director LQ Jones, who brought his vision to the big screen – genetically enhanced intelligent canines are what 2024 has in store for us. In Ellison’s novella, two more world wars nearly destroyed humanity. Billions are dead. Many of the survivors are hiding in underground cities. Vic and Blood, the young man and the dog of the book’s title, stay together to survive the wasteland. Food is scarce; women are even scarcer. Together, the pair hunt without mercy, tracking down everything they need to satisfy their hunger and satisfy their desires.

Of all the works in this list, A boy and his dog probably offers the bleakest picture of the future. But global tensions are sky-high, and regional conflicts continue to escalate into full-scale wars. Maybe we should prepare for the conflict and the future telepathic dogs.^[5]

5 Beyond the Time Barrier: Nuclear Recklessness Brings Us to Near Extinction

Like many on this list, Beyond the time barrier portrays 2024 as a year of ecological ruin. Nuclear tests in the 1970s caused extensive damage to the ozone layer, leaving the Earth unprotected against cosmic radiation. The radiation turns some of humanity into shaggy-haired mutants who live on the surface, while others find solace underground. Those who avoid a complete mutation often remain mute and infertile.

Not surprising for a 60’s B-movie, Beyond the time barrier contains a lot of unrealistic sci-fi. Viewers can enjoy the joys of time-traveling planes and a spaceship that splits in two. Not only does this technology not exist today, it is impossible by all known science. But the stark warnings about a reckless attitude toward nuclear technology are as important today as they were more than sixty years ago.^[6]

4 Frontlines: Fuel of War: Energy crisis leads to bloody global conflicts

Front lines: fuel of war hit shelves in 2008, but the Xbox 360 game is set 16 years later amid a violent global battle for dwindling energy supplies. Oil reserves are low; the natural gas is running out. In this ruthless competition for resources, the US and the EU have worked together to form the Western Coalition, much like Russia and China in the Red Star Alliance.

Front lines players find themselves in the role of a fighter of the western coalition. They use explosives, helicopters and airstrikes – everything in their power to fight foreign enemies on the vast battlefields of war.

While Frontlines’ The worldbuilding is hardly rich in nuance; the broad vision of the future seems to be developing into a worrying reality. China and Russia now have a more unified energy relationship than before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. In 2019, China signed a $400 billion deal with Russia’s Gazprom to supply gas through the Power of Siberia pipeline. Meanwhile, Russia remains one of China’s top sources of crude oil, second only to Saudi Arabia.^[7]

3 The Last Days of American Crime: Government Brainwashing to Suppress Crime

A futuristic sci-fi heist movie, The Last Days of American Crime is a Netflix original, adapted from Rick Remender’s graphic novel of the same name. The US government is ready to send out a sophisticated signal that will deter anyone from committing a crime. Once the US Peace Initiative starts, there will be no more illegal activities, leaving criminals with a short window to get one last job.

It’s clear that this kind of massive mind-control technology doesn’t exist and probably never will. Or is that what they want you to think?^[8]

2 Parable of the Sower: Environmental disasters lead to spiritual space travel

From the visionary mind of Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower is one of the most beloved and respected pieces of environmental sci-fi ever written. Butler writes about a world torn apart by climate disasters and social inequality. The wealthy families live in closed neighborhoods. By building walls around their streets, they keep themselves separated from the drug-addicted criminal wastelands outside.

In this deeply divided society, a young woman comes up with a new spiritual belief system. Earthseed, as she calls it, is based on change, empathy and a desire to leave Earth so that humanity can continue on other planets.^[9]

1 Star Trek: Riots against social collapse inspire positive reform

First broadcast almost 30 years ago, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is strangely accurate in its predictions for 2024. “Past Tense” is a two-parter from season three that finds the crew in what is now modern-day San Francisco.

The trio is beamed down to a version of the US ravaged by inequality. The gap between rich and poor is clearly visible. Large numbers of people have nowhere to live. State racism often results in police brutality against people of color in underserved “sanctuary districts.” But the episodes end on an optimistic note for the future. The anger of the lower classes culminates in a series of riots, drawing attention to their plight and inspiring a mass movement for social change.

A prescient look at the 21st century from a show that has never shied away from political and social stories. But the writers say their intention was never to predict the future, but to portray the state of the country as they saw it at the time.

“We weren’t predictive,” explains Robert Hewitt Wolfe, who came up with the idea with his colleague Ira Steven Behr. “In the 1990s we just looked out the window. My wife worked as a psychotherapist with homeless and mentally ill people. Ira said what convinced him to do the episodes was walking through Palisades Park in Santa Monica and seeing all the homeless people there. They are still there. It hasn’t changed.”^[10]