Predicting the Future in 10 Seconds

(Or However Long It Takes to Lose Your Attention))

As nexxworks turns 10, I was tasked with the impossible: predict the next 10 years—in 10 seconds. Here's my best shot. Warning: reality may not apply.

So, there I was, celebrating nexxworks' 10th anniversary, when one of the young whippersnappers running the show hit me with the ultimate challenge: predict the future 10 years from now—and do it in 10 seconds. Because, apparently, 10 seconds is the new gold standard for attention spans. We’ve officially entered the era where even goldfish look down on us for our focus.

Now, being the Grumpy Old Dude that I am (ex-CEO title intact), I played along with their TikTok-sized attention window. But you know me, I couldn’t resist writing a longer version. Some predictions need more than the time it takes to heat up a cup of soup.

Here’s my take on the next 10 years—and why, frankly, you’ll never know if I was right.

Utopia, Dystopia, and the Delightful Blurring of Reality

Predicting the future used to be a parlor game for intellectuals and fortune tellers. Now it’s become everyone’s favorite party trick. You've got the utopians, painting a picture of flying cars, world peace, and an eternal spring break climate. Meanwhile, the dystopians are busy prepping for a Mad Max-style future, where the world’s a dumpster fire, technology's gone rogue, and the slightest meme sparks societal collapse.

And then there’s me. I’m here to tell you that predicting the future is the easiest gig I’ve ever had. Why? Because in 10 years, no one will remember if I was right or wrong. Truth and fiction will be so blurred, even I won’t know if I got it right. And I’m okay with that.

Welcome to the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Reality

Here’s the deal: we’re heading into a world where reality is just another flavor of the week. Deepfakes? Check. Fake news? Check. AI that can write posts convincing enough to make you believe your dog took up blogging? Double check. In 10 years, the question “Is this real?” will sound as quaint as asking, “What’s the internet?” We won’t care. We’ll just pick the version of reality that fits our mood, click ‘like,’ and scroll on.

Think I’m joking? Look around. Today’s headlines already come in three different flavors, depending on where you get your news. By 2034, you’ll have your own personal narrative, each supported by a cozy little set of “facts.”

In fact, I could tell you anything about the future right now. Flying pigs? Sure. Utopian world leaders sharing cat videos instead of nuclear threats? Why not. And you wouldn’t fact-check me, because the lines between what’s real and what’s made-up will be so muddled, we’ll all just shrug and move on.

Reality: A Social Construct Since Forever

Maybe it’s always been this way. Reality has always been shaped by the loudest voices, the fanciest algorithms, or the most convincing manipulators. The truth? It’s just what we’ve collectively agreed to believe. As historian Yuval Noah Harari points out, most of our modern world is built on “shared myths”—from money to nations, these are fictions we’ve all bought into.

So when I predict that in 10 years, the world will be exactly what you want it to be, I’m not just making stuff up (well, maybe a little). I’m saying we’re heading into a future where reality is a personalized playlist—curated for your specific tastes.

Craving a world where robots do your laundry, and everything smells like lavender? You’ll have that. Want a post-apocalyptic wasteland where you’re a lone wolf scavenging for Wi-Fi in the ruins of a Starbucks? There’ll be a version of that, too. Choose your dystopia, choose your utopia—and we’ll all scroll happily through whatever version suits us.

The Easiest Prediction of All Time

So here’s my bold prediction for the next 10 years: the world will be whatever you want it to be. Utopia? Dystopia? A little bit of both? Pick your flavor. This choose-your-own-reality adventure has no rules, and in the end, no one’s going to stop you from living in the reality you prefer.

And here’s the best part: in 10 years, when you try to remember what I said today, you won’t be able to tell if I was right or wrong. That’s the beauty of it. Maybe I was spot on. Maybe I was wildly off the mark. Who cares? By 2034, truth won’t matter as much as the version of reality you’ve chosen to live in.

Reality Was Always a Bit Fuzzy

There’s a reason why George Orwell’s 1984 has made a roaring comeback in the last few years. People are starting to notice that reality has always been a bit... flexible. Sure, we’ve got more sophisticated tools now—AI, fake news, algorithms that spoon-feed us what we want to hear. But the principle’s the same: the future will be shaped by whoever controls the narrative. And let’s face it, it’s a lot easier to believe what’s served up to you, especially when it fits your worldview like a glove.

Roger Scruton, the late philosopher, once said, “The greatest threat to liberty is the loss of the distinction between truth and falsehood.” Well, folks, we’ve lost that distinction, and most of us are too busy swiping and scrolling to notice. By 2034, reality will be a choose-your-own-adventure game, with fact and fiction dancing merrily together.

It’s All Up for Interpretation

At this point, I could predict anything, and it wouldn’t matter. World peace? Total chaos? Both, depending on your feed? Why not. The future, like everything else, is up for interpretation.

What I do know is that in 10 years, we’ll all be living in a reality of our own design. And just like that, the line between “what is” and “what isn’t” will be blurred beyond recognition. The Matrix won’t be science fiction anymore—it’ll be a lifestyle choice.

Final Thoughts (If You're Still Here)

So, what’s my big takeaway? Reality is a construct, and the future? Well, it’s just another story we’re all going to write together—whether we’re paying attention or not.

In 10 years, we’ll be living in a world where your truth, my truth, and the AI’s truth coexist in a happy, chaotic mess. And when 2034 rolls around, you won’t remember if I got any of this right. You might not even care. Because by then, we’ll be too busy scrolling through our personalized reality feeds, liking whatever feels true in the moment.

Enjoy the ride. Or don’t. Either way, I’ll see you in 2034, where we’ll all be too busy filtering reality to bother checking if it’s real.