The New York Times asked me (and others) to suggest some things our descendents might be embarrassed about in the future. Things we do now, that might make future generations cringe. Good question! My reply is this short list, which I may add to later as I think of them. Their full list was published here as Future Cringe on Jan 27, 2023.

Having your first name decided by your parents will be as unfashionable as having them pick who you marry.

Believing the amount you pay in taxes should be private.

Eating dead animals.

Not being able to have two spouses at once.

Fearing human clones. (They are serial twins.)

Wrapping food in plastic.

Thinking you needed permission to visit another country.

Getting off the summer from school.

Carrying a screen around in our pockets.

Imprisoning people for life.

Having daylight saving time, changing clocks twice a year.

Objecting to face recognition by machines.

Wanting to live in space.

Accepting bombs in war as OK.

Dying from cancer.

In the far future, we’ll be embarrassed that people insisted to have their deceased bodies buried in the ground.