Imagined Future Scenarios
Quantum Computing, Plausible Futures, Long Term (5 - 10 years)
Scenario Generated from '6 Mistakes IT Teams Are Guaranteed To Make In 2025' - Forbes
Future Arc and Implications
Grow Arc
Social Impact: Increased life expectancy and improved quality of life due to advancements in medicine and materials.
Technological Impact: Rapid advancement in specialized quantum computing hardware accelerates progress across multiple industries.
Ecological Impact: Increased resource consumption driven by industrial growth, potentially exacerbating environmental issues.
Economic Impact: Significant economic growth fueled by innovation in drug discovery and materials science, creating new industries.
Political Impact: Global competition intensifies for control of quantum technology and its economic benefits.
Narrative: Widespread adoption of specialized quantum computing leads to unprecedented economic prosperity and technological advancement, but with growing environmental concerns.
Collapse Arc
Social Impact: Widespread social unrest and inequality due to uneven distribution of benefits from quantum technology advancements.
Technological Impact: Over-reliance on specialized quantum computing systems leads to widespread disruption and vulnerability to hacking or failure.
Ecological Impact: Accelerated environmental degradation caused by resource-intensive manufacturing of quantum hardware and increased industrial activity.
Economic Impact: Economic instability and potential collapse due to disruption of existing industries and unequal access to quantum technologies.
Political Impact: Rise of authoritarianism and societal fragmentation due to economic hardship and resource scarcity.
Narrative: The uneven distribution and over-reliance on specialized quantum computing triggers a cascade of failures across critical systems, leading to societal collapse.
Discipline Arc
Social Impact: Stricter oversight on development and deployment of quantum technology to prevent misuse and promote equitable distribution.
Technological Impact: Controlled development of quantum computing focuses on addressing specific societal challenges under strict governmental or international regulation.
Ecological Impact: Sustainable development is prioritized, integrating environmental safeguards into quantum computing production and applications.
Economic Impact: Regulated economic growth prioritizing sustainable development and equitable resource distribution.
Political Impact: International cooperation and governance structures are established to manage global quantum technology development and prevent misuse.
Narrative: Global governance and careful planning ensure quantum computing advancements are harnessed to solve critical societal challenges while mitigating risks.
Transform Arc
Social Impact: New paradigms of human understanding and interaction emerge as quantum technologies redefine scientific and philosophical foundations.
Technological Impact: Quantum computing transcends current limitations, leading to transformative innovations surpassing current comprehension.
Ecological Impact: Quantum technologies facilitate breakthroughs in renewable energy, resource management, and environmental restoration.
Economic Impact: Radical societal restructuring driven by automation and the emergence of fundamentally new economic models.
Political Impact: Existing political structures become obsolete as new societal values and governance paradigms based on quantum understanding emerge.
Narrative: Quantum computing triggers a profound paradigm shift, fundamentally changing human understanding, technology, and societal organization.