+
upworthy
Pop Culture

People are sharing the things we'll be nostalgic for in 50 years. Here are the best responses.

You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

the future, nostalgia, climate change

What will the future look like?

A Reddit user asked an innocent question about the future and it exposed a lot of the issues that people worry about today. It also highlighted the things we should appreciate while they are still around.

Klausbrusselssprouts asked the AskReddit forum, “In 50 years, what will people be nostalgic for?” and the responses went two ways. Some people mentioned the things they fear will get a lot worse in the future such as the role that technology plays in our lives and climate change.

Others saw the question as a way of appreciating the things we have now that may not survive over the next few decades.


As the old saying goes, you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone, so it’s hard to predict the things that we have today that people will feel nostalgic for in the future. Back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, nobody would have ever guessed that people would feel nostalgic for everyday experiences such as going to Blockbuster video or the sound of an old dial-up modem. But a lot of people get a warm, fuzzy feeling when they think about them today.

It’s safe to say that in 50 years, a lot of the real experiences we enjoy today will be replaced by digital technology. So take time to appreciate face-to-face interactions with other people, technology that isn’t implanted into your brain and attending events in person.

Here are 17 of the best responses to the question, “In 50 years, what will people be nostalgic for?”

1. 

"Owning something you don't pay a subscription for." — JohnnyNumbskull

Switchplayerclassic added:

"THIS is exactly what I hate rn about everything."

2. 


"Drinking water from the tap." — Credible cactus

3. 

"Grandparents will say to their grandkids, 'When I was your age, I had to get off the screen and actually GO to school.'" — Truck_Stop_Sushi

4. 

"Privacy. Even babies are overexposed today." — birdiewings

5. 

​"Being able to do basic maintenance on your car without needing a shop manual and a years salary worth of special tools." — kilroy-was-here-2543

6. 

"Keys. Even more specific vehicle keys." — UpMan

7. 

"Social media. Not because it’s good, but because whatever comes next will probably suck more." — RockoTDF

8. 

"The number of wild animals that exist and can be seen. They are already on the decline." — SpikedBubbles

9.

"Wired earbuds with an actual headphone jack. Not USB version 93 delta." — Rodeo6a

10. 

"The abundance and availability of power, water, and food." — wrath__

11. 

"Retail shopping. There will be these cutesy, extremely expensive retro shops selling things you'd find at the convenience store." — shay1990plus

12. 

"I'd say people will miss being uncontactable. Like back in the day, you could just go to your bedroom, and block the rest of the world away for a couple of hours. Now we've got video calls, phone calls, texts, emails. Urgh." — mr_wernderful

13.

"Having sex with someone who isn't a robot." — Clarenceworley480

14.

"Probably movie theaters." — rsvredditacct

15. 

​"Life before covid." — ButterflyGirlie

16. 


"Human made art and music without the use of AI. Or even just knowing it was made without the use of AI tools like DALL-E 2 or similar. Kind of like how before autotune you knew for certain a singer could sing that way." — ConfidentlyNuerotic

17. 

​"Democracy." — K3b1N

This article originally appeared 9.22.22

True

Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

Keep ReadingShow less
Democracy

This Map Reveals The True Value Of $100 In Each State

Your purchasing power can swing by 30% from state to state.

Image by Tax Foundation.

Map represents the value of 100 dollars.

As the cost of living in large cities continues to rise, more and more people are realizing that the value of a dollar in the United States is a very relative concept. For decades, cost of living indices have sought to address and benchmark the inconsistencies in what money will buy, but they are often so specific as to prevent a holistic picture or the ability to "browse" the data based on geographic location.

The Tax Foundation addressed many of these shortcomings using the most recent (2015) Bureau of Economic Analysis data to provide a familiar map of the United States overlaid with the relative value of what $100 is "worth" in each state. Granted, going state-by-state still introduces a fair amount of "smoothing" into the process — $100 will go farther in Los Angeles than in Fresno, for instance — but it does provide insight into where the value lies.

Keep ReadingShow less
Family

Woman bakes cheeky curse word pies for her grandma and it becomes a quirky holiday tradition

2023's pie is an homage to her favorite word to use while stuck in traffic.

Canva

You never know where a holiday tradition will come from.

Tried-and-true holiday traditions certainly have their merit, but there’s something quite special, magical even, about discovering personal rituals that commemorate one’s unique life. In my household, for instance, nothing quite rings in the Christmas spirit like sipping my partner’s delicious coquito and putting up a cardboard gingerbread house for my cats.

The beauty of creating customized holiday traditions is that they can be as festive, sentimental, or as silly as you want them to be. And you never know how one small moment can become the catalyst for a tradition that sparks joy year after year.

For Jess Lydon, that tradition is baking expletive-laden pies for Thanksgiving. (This is your profanity warning—the images below contain swear words.)

Keep ReadingShow less
Education

3,700-year-old Babylonian stone tablet gets translated, changes history

They were doing trigonometry 1500 years before the Greeks.

via UNSW

Dr. Daniel Mansfield and his team at the University of New South Wales in Australia have just made an incredible discovery. While studying a 3,700-year-old tablet from the ancient civilization of Babylon, they found evidence that the Babylonians were doing something astounding: trigonometry!

Most historians have credited the Greeks with creating the study of triangles' sides and angles, but this tablet presents indisputable evidence that the Babylonians were using the technique 1,500 years before the Greeks ever were.

Keep ReadingShow less

Peter Bence's piano cover of "Africa" by Toto

Peter Bence’s performance of “Africa” by Toto has over 17 million views on YouTube because of his creative reimagining of the song and, well, just about everyone loves “Africa.”

Bence is a Hungarian composer and producer who has become a viral sensation for his Michael Jackson, Queen, Sia, and Beatles covers. He has over 1.1 million followers on YouTube and has toured the globe, playing in more than 40 countries across four continents.

His performance of “Africa'' is unique because it opens with him creating a rhythm track and looping it by strategically tapping the piano and rubbing its strings to create the sound of shakers and congo drums.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

Family posts a very chill note to neighbors explaining why their dog is on the roof

“We appreciate your concern but please do not knock on our door.."

via Reddit

Meet Huckleberry the dog.

If you were taking a stroll through a quiet neighborhood and happened to catch a glance of this majestic sight, you might bat an eye. You might do a double take. If you were (somewhat understandably) concerned about this surprising roof-dog's welfare, you might even approach the homeowners to tell them, "Uh, I'm not sure if you know...but there's a...dog...on your ROOF."

Well, the family inside is aware that there's often a dog on their roof. It's their pet Golden, Huckleberry, and he just sorta likes it up there.

Keep ReadingShow less
Family

12 hilariously relatable comics about life as a new mom.

Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.

All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.

Some good not so good moments with babies.



Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.

Illustrator Ingebritt ter Veld and Corinne de Vries, who works for Hippe-Birth Cards, a webshop for birth announcements, had babies shortly after one another.

Keep ReadingShow less