Someone Wonders: "In 50 Years, What Will People Be Nostalgic For?" And 50 People Give Answers

"In history, students are always asked to reflect on other people's thoughts, ideas, and actions in the past as a way to understand the developments in the past societies. I also want to make the students aware that they themselves are a part of history. In class, I ask the question, 'What from [the current year] should be put in a museum in 50 years?' With this question, the students are forced to reflect on themselves, and the present as a historical period. They will identify what's unique about the 2020s as opposed to the 2000s for instance. This is my way of doing a Reddit version of that question. So in that way, there's a history lesson going on, on Reddit with that post," Klaus told Bored Panda.

Klaus told Bored Panda that he didn't even consider how popular the post might be. He said that it's something he posted "more or less randomly." However, the post clicked with a ton of people and the thread went viral.

"After a few hours when I checked Reddit again, I found out it had exploded—I didn't see that coming. I think it gained so much popularity because it basically is a question about people themselves and their/our own time. It's a very present question and not something very abstract. You can simply sit at your desk or in your room and just look around and find stuff that represents the 2020s," he explained why the question resonated so much with so many redditors.

He shared that a couple of weeks ago, he was at a history museum where they had an exhibition on classrooms. There, he found a glimpse into his youth. "I was looking at what my own classroom looked like in the '90s. It was in a way shocking that I could be examined, just like the 1890s or 1790s are being examined. So in that way, I think this idea of the current individuals and time being a subject of future museums is very fascinating," he said.

Predicting what the future will look like is a very tough challenge. One strategy that you could rely on involves looking at the investment space and seeing what technologies certain companies pump money into developing. That way, you can more or less gauge what our tech may look like a few years from now. But all things considered, anyone talking about the future with certainty is probably lying or trying to sell you something. Futurology is all guesswork, even if some of it is done very diligently and scientifically.

Klaus, the author of the post, told Bored Panda that, as a historian, he's not really into trying to predict the future. "History has shown us time and time again how things can unfold in completely unexpected directions. Take for instance the movie series 'Back to the Future.' I've read interviews, where the scriptwriters and actors, to some extent, back in the mid-1980s actually believed that we would have flying cars in 2015," he noted that our hopes for the future don't always come true.

Meanwhile, the historian shared his thoughts about what the people of the future might be nostalgic about. "I think social media and smartphones are very defining for the 2010s and 2020s. It's likely that in the 2070s those things are long gone and replaced by something much more advanced. Though it can be hard to imagine what that would be," he mused.

"With the current troubles that we see around the world with climate change that is on the verge of getting out of control, escalating tensions between NATO countries and Russia, China, and North Korea, just to name a few, I imagine that we are looking into a less secure period in world history," Klaus said that he doesn't see an overly peaceful future in the works. The sense of peace and stability that we've had for several decades is going away.

"Since the Cold War ended in 1991, we have to realize that we've been extremely secure. More secure than ever before. I think we may realize that this sense of security will be a parenthesis in world history, and it'll be something that people could be nostalgic about."

Klaus told us that he hopes that questions like his will make people reflect on themselves and the time period when they live. "With this question, it's more about identifying objective truths about ourselves in the 2020s. There are many things that people have mentioned in the post, that almost all can agree will be something to be nostalgic about. I think this is the true power of Reddit—that positive vibe you generally find. This makes Reddit stand out to many other social media where I see a much more toxic community, for instance, Facebook and YouTube."

Nostalgia is a very powerful thing. It can remind us of the good old days and help us power through many tough situations in the present. However, it’s a bit of a double-edged sword because we can get lost in it: we might even ignore our current lives, letting them go down in quality. Besides, it’s often difficult to recognize the fact that we’re living in the best of days when we don’t know what the future will bring. There are certain things that we know for a fact we should focus on: our health, our loved ones, our passion projects, and our shift toward financial independence.

Financial expert Sam Dogen, the author of ‘Buy This, Not That,’ recently explained to Bored Panda that, as time goes by, we should give greater and greater priority to our health.

"Health is absolutely the main thing that will decline and hurt the quality of your life if you don’t focus on it. Therefore, you have to be dedicated to eating properly and exercising regularly, especially over the age of 30," he told Bored Panda.

"You cannot just wing it like you did as a teenager or a healthy 20-something years old eating pizza all day. Your waistline will expand and you’ll find more and more health issues pop up as you get older,” the financial expert said. At the same time, as you grow older, your perspective shifts and you start seeing some advantages compared to when you were younger.

"Your confidence will naturally grow as you get older and gain more wisdom. As a result, you will feel less insecure, less shy, and have more courage to live the life that you want. Remember, your financial independence number is not ready if you don’t have the courage to change a suboptimal situation!" he said.

"Further, as you build more wealth and grow your income, your fear of running out of money also declines. As a result, you can take more risks and not worry as much about what your friends, colleagues, and bosses think. The best benefit of being financially independent is to be able to speak your mind when you see something wrong. Also, I spend a lot more time being a creator, without fearing ridicule. It is so freeing!"

We can’t be sure what the future will bring (though things do tend to get better over time, on average), so it’s best to be prepared for some unfortunate eventualities. Having a small financial safety net can help as you move forward.

“Things may seem more difficult now as the stock market declines and layoffs increase. However, know that over the long term, economic progress is always up and to the right. Things will inevitably rebound and get better. Your goal is to survive through the downturn so that when the upturn inevitably comes, you will benefit," financial expert Sam said.

"This means having 6-12 months' worth of living expenses to hold you over, just in case you lose your job and lose alternative income sources. The average bear market lasts about 12 months. Then, brighter days inevitably appear," he told Bored Panda.

"In a capitalistic society, people are always looking to find ways to make things better, cheaper, and faster. As a result, there will be continuous innovation in the name of profits. The key is to be thankful for what we already have and to appreciate how far we’ve come over the past 10, 20, 30, and 100 years! Don’t take the good things in our life for granted."