A few random societal shifts I think might be coming in the coming years (each presented without judgement)…

  • Fragrances (especially artificial cologne, perfume, heavily-scented body wash) are seen like second-hand smoke. It becomes much less socially acceptable to wear them in public places.
  • Meditators get really into “sila,” the third of the “threefold trainings” of Buddhism. After decades of “dry insight” and then the current era of “jhanabros” and their samadhi practice, retreats focusing on right action and right speech have their moment in the sun.
  • The perception of antioxidant consumption shifts from “incredible for you, have as much as possible” to “a good thing in moderation” as we recognize the balance of oxidation and reduction in the body.
  • Pets rights hits the public consciousness — activists begin to protest keeping animals on leashes and in crates.
  • Sugar is Good, actually — the pendulum swings back to “sugar good, fat bad” after a stretch of the opposite. (And we continue to oscillate around the possibility that perhaps it is actually sugar/carbs and fat together that are problematic…)
  • The return of gentleman (and lady) scientists, and the rise of citizen science, especially for fringe research outside the bounds of academia and governmental grant procedures, and perhaps outside of the now-canonical peer review system. We remember that great scientific leaps are by their very definition outside the realm of what is currently understood or believed.
  • Over the coming decades, professional sports leagues either absolutely rip due to “leisure activities” being the only thing left for humans, and us wanting to see people perform “leisure activities” such as sports at the highest levels; or they fall out of favor as people begin to perceive them as being a sort of brutish/pointless gladiator-style indentured servitude with negative downstream externalities for the participants.
  • After decades of explosive consumerism and the accompanying creation of an ever-larger set of things for us to expose ourselves and our children to, less is more becomes the mantra, and many people dramatically simplify their consumption of food, pharmaceuticals, environmental exposures, chemicals, and more.

Looking for more to read?

Want to hear about new essays? Subscribe to my roughly-monthly newsletter recapping my recent writing and things I'm enjoying:

And I'd love to hear from you directly: andy@andybromberg.com