The New York Times asked me (and others) to suggest some things our descendents might be embarrassed about in the future. Things we do now, that might make future generations cringe. Good question! My reply is this short list, which I may add to later as I think of them. There is no limit to the year, so some of these are destined for the very far future. The NYT’s full list was published here as Future Cringe on Jan 27, 2023.

In the future our descendents might cringe about:

Having your name decided by your parents (it will be as unfashionable as having them pick who you marry).

Believing the amount you pay in taxes should be private.

Eating dead animals with excitement.

Polygamy being illegal.

Fearing human clones. (They are serial twins.)

Wrapping food in plastic.

Thinking you needed permission to visit another country.

Getting the summer off from school.

Burying dead human bodies in the ground.

Coins and paper for money and cashier jobs to count them.

Imprisoning people for life.

Having daylight saving time, changing clocks twice a year.

Objecting to face recognition by machines.

Wanting to live in space.

Accepting bombs in war as OK.

Dying from cancer.

Wearing a tie to work.

Letting children inherit random genes.

School rooms where everyone learns the same things at the same rate.

Letting humans drive cars on highways.

Volunteering to be a soldier wielding a gun.

Not acknowledging the AIs.

Burning unrecycled trash.

Keeping wild animals in zoos.

Typing with fingers to communicate.

Using gendered pronouns.

What have I left out? — KK