What to expect from my life expectancy

What would you like to know about the future? The lottery numbers, how your favourite TV show ends, if we’ll ever meet aliens? Personally, I’m much more curious about little green men than lottery balls. But that’s just me.

What about knowing how much longer you can expect to live and what your future life might be like?

Would you want to know?

From pop songs to pot plants

Working at The Book of Everyone gives me plenty of excuses to indulge in a bit of nostalgia. Thanks to our clever book builder I know all about the world I was born into.

I’ve learned that Easy Lover that was number one song when I entered the world. Which might explain why it’s my karaoke song of choice.

I’ve learned that Bernard “The Badger” Hinault won the Tour de France that year. I LOVE cycling, so knowing who wore the yellow jersey in Paris the year I was born is essential to my cycling street cred.

And thanks to our book builder, I also know my birthday is International Plant Appreciation Day. Which, for someone incapable of keeping his girlfriend’s house plants alive, seems like a cruel irony.

But what about my future?

What to expect from my life expectancy

I’m 33, so strictly speaking I’m no longer “young”. But – despite the daily protestations of my knees – I’m certainly not “old” yet either.

There’s no way of knowing exactly how old I’ll get to be, but according to a recent research English men of my age will live, on average, to the age of 83.

That’s incredible. It means that if I’m lucky I can look forward to another 50 years of life.

What will I be like when I get old?

It’s easy picture myself as an elderly gent. I’ll be strolling around town, wearing a three piece suit and a fedora, clutching a paperback (assuming they still exist) from my lifelong reading list.

But, sometimes I find myself wondering what it’ll actually be like being my oldest self..

It turns out, not too bad. The research also says that for 84% of my remaining half-century I can expect to be fairly healthy. That’s 42 more years of riding my bike every chance I get.

And according to leading technologists, I’ll have more chances than ever. Brilliant combinations of robotics and artificial intelligence will mean the harder work of everyday life will be done by all sorts of clever metallic manservants. Sounds good to me.

So far, this is all great news. Although, unless the future sees some radical breakthroughs in cycling clothing, I’m not hugely excited to see how unflattering lycra will be to my senior self…

What about the world I’ll be riding around though, what will that be like?

Welcome to the world of tomorrow!

The first thing to say about 2068 is that it’ll be crowded! In another 50 years the planet’s human population is expected to top 9 billion.

Whilst some scientists predict that the first Mars colony will be up and running by 2030, most of us will still call Earth home, and the majority of us will live in cities.

On the upside, these cities are expected to be greener than they are now. Think skyscrapers with large parks and green spaces separating them, and sky gardens that come as standard.

In a gallows humour sort of way we’ll have plenty of opportunities to enjoy the view from these sky gardens too. Climate change means that the average temperature in England is expected to be around 1.5 degrees hotter, with around 20% less rain.

As well as being greener and warmer, it’s predicted that the future will be a smoke-free place too. On current trends, in 50 years virtually no one will be smoking tobacco.

Given how popular vapes are now, it’s possible that the future might just smell of a million competing flavours of vapour instead. Which could be… interesting.

All I really want from the future

One last thing about the world a half-century from now… Hoverboards. There, I’ve said it.

I’d spent my entire life waiting for the year 2015 to see just how prophetic Back to the Future II really was. I’m a patient man, so I can forgive scientists and engineers for taking a little longer than promised.

But, if by 2068 I still can’t glide around my life inches above the ground on the evolution of the skateboard, then I’ll be a little annoyed. And, at 83, I’ll be well-rehearsed in the art of being a grumpy old man.

So there you have it, a little window into what I might be able to expect from life in 50 years time. I’m intrigued to see how accurate it all is. Keep an eye out for a follow up blog in 2068…

In the meantime, I’d love to know what you might be able to expect from your life expectancy so let me know in the comments.

 

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