Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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How we did this Pew Research Center has conducted extensive research on the public’s economic attitudes, including opinions about economic inequality. As part of this research, we conducted this study to better understand Americans’ views of the factors behind why some people are rich or poor. We also wanted to learn if attitudes had changed […]
Americans and many around the world are not terribly satisfied with the state of democracy and the institutions that undergird it. Experts who were canvassed about the relationship between people’s technology use and democracy also expressed serious concerns about how things will unfold in the next decade. At the same time, the experts responding to […]
The comments in the following section are a sharp contrast to the utopian visions of equity and advancement described above. Whereas some see the future of the internet as a great equalizer, others warn that technology can just as easily be used for control and exploitation. Inequality on the rise: The growing divide between haves […]
A number of these experts said that when people try to predict the future it can be helpful to look at the past and assess today’s trends. They drew parallels from the present moment to past eras and extrapolated based on current trends. This section includes comments about how the past can inform the future. […]
When the 530 participants in this study shared wide-ranging insights about the future, most of their responses were tied to hopes and concerns over human evolution in light of technological change. A share of their comments referred to technological advances such as brain-computer interfaces, virtual immersive experiences that will teach and entertain users, pervasive connectivity […]
