One of the reasons to be skeptical about the future is that technological optimism is wildly misplaced. Outside of the proliferation of the integrated circuit, there hasn't been any significant leaps in the physical sciences in half a century or so, merely optimizations to wring
out 1% more energy efficiency every year or so. Every new transformative technology is just about making do with less energy. The industrial revolution and the adoption of fuels like coal, petroleum, and natural gas allowed for orders of magnitude expansions in output. Without a
similar leap in aggregate energy per capita, you aren't going to see anything truly revolutionary, merely iterative and incremental optimizations to lower input costs. The so called tech revolution of the 21st century wasn't technological at all, but about finding novel avenues
to sell advertising and "optimize" mass communication without requiring the energy to physically congregate or broadcast. That means the future will look much like the present, hopefully with everyone making do with less better than they can today.
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