Waning physical health
In a future marred by technological dependence and societal decay, the physical well-being of Filipinos deteriorates to alarming levels.
Amidst the comforts of modern convenience, the middle to upper classes sink deeper into sedentary lifestyles, mirroring the fate of the humans in Wall-E. Bound to their screens and attended to by robots, they relinquish all semblance of physical activity, their once-strong bones reduced to brittle shells by disuse.
Compounding this decline is a broken transportation system that renders venturing outdoors an exercise in frustration. Preferring the solace of their homes, Filipinos succumb to a cycle of inactivity, their eyesight dimming as they immerse themselves in instant entertainment.
Meanwhile, the working class faces a different struggle, grappling with hunger and malnourishment in a society plagued by unequal access to food. While the privileged indulge in addictive fare, the masses are left to fend for scraps, their stunted growth a testament to the deprivation that grips the nation.
In this bleak reality, physical health becomes a casualty of convenience and neglect, as Filipinos languish in the grip of a future bereft of vitality and well-being.
In a somber report released by the Philippine Nutrition Council, alarming statistics highlight a grim reality: a large portion of the Filipino population now stands below five feet tall. Because of malnutrition and poverty running rampant, generations have been robbed of their physical stature, condemned to lives of diminished opportunity and perpetual struggle.
Introducing the future of mobility: JustCruise™. Designed with the modern Filipino lifestyle in mind, these innovative wheelchairs empower users to navigate their surroundings with ease, whether indoors or outdoors. Equipped with self-driving technology, these wheelchairs also provide independence and convenience, allowing users to focus on their desired form of entertainment while effortlessly moving from place to place. With JustCruise™ wheelchairs, say goodbye to bodily limitations and hello to peace of mind!
Selected Quotes
If technology has advanced so far that working on your health doesn't have any benefits, or like people don't see the benefits. Being someone in a tech career, I've made an active effort to go to the gym every now and then, frequently to stay healthy, because sitting in a sitting in a chair in the desk the entire day isn't good for me. But maybe by that time in the feature, [the idea of] sitting and being connected to technology the entire day--if that becomes so rewarding, or it hits all the dopamine spots in the human's brain something like that, maybe they wouldn't want to get up. Maybe they wouldn't want to stay healthy. And I believe that happens right now, like people who are perpetually online, you can see that their health would probably dwindle a lot, they don't eat healthy. They just spent hours wasting away scrolling, playing games, all those stuff. So when technology improves and with no regard for health, that's gonna be worse. You can take our eyesight, for example. I'm pretty sure a hundred years ago the percent of people wearing eye glasses was much lower. And [now]...well, we are part of that.
Honestly, what I'm imagining is Wall-E: we're just sitting, traveling on chairs, and then if I want to buy something...and then everyone just becomes unhealthy. I don't know; that's what I'm picturing.
...[M]y nephew is 7 years old. He's gonna grow up in a world where AI is just a thing...and he doesn't know what it's like to not have a smartphone that can do everything...[like] every entertainment desire that he has that his phone can kind of handle. He doesn't know what it's like to sit in front of a TV at 7 PM on a Friday night and wait for your favorite show to come on because you just call it up, right. You just choose what you want to watch. It's not something you have to wait for. So I guess the behaviors are just like everything is instant, whenever you need it. And then everything is a little easier than before. And I guess, as someone who grew up not particularly wealthy, I wonder if that'll make us all lazy...To reference something else, I guess...are we going to end up like those humans in Wall-E? You know where they're all just kind of super overweight, and they're all in floating chairs, and all they do is eat and watch TV...is that what we're gonna end up becoming? I hope not; I really hope not.
...I think there's a lot to say about that, like both the physical and psychological emotional make-up of our bodies will change drastically, and that's something that we will see unfold, not sure how to describe it. Like for example, if you've seen Wall-E...[the humans'] bones became smaller, because...we weren't doing a lot of physical activity anymore...our [bodies have] evolved [to no longer require] these bones anymore [for survival], because...we can get [basically] anything at the [drop] of a hat. So...this is a example of a possible future where...our bodies and emotions and attention, etc. will change.
I think that in the worst case scenario, so many people would be malnourished and underfed also. That's actually an existing problem now. If things were to go bad too, so much more people would be hungry and malnourished...[Also,] what if people would get shorter? Because there's actually been a study, I don't know if you've heard. In Korea kasi, before their position now...sorry, I don't have exact dates, di ko memorize, but I do know this happened...they used to be really poor like after the war, North Korea, South Korea. But then when they started working on their economy and when they started getting better, they actually started feeding the kids better. As the country got better, more and more children were able to eat properly and because they were getting more proper nutrients and their food was getting more and more substantial, they actually did get taller. It's true being malnourished has a bad effect on your health. But in shortness...I mean, a lot of Filipinos are shorter in general...not getting the food that you need can lead to your body shrinking or you not growing as much as you could.
For [a pessimistic future of] health and wellness, because everything is abandoned, it would only be natural if people's health in general went down. I did not cover mental health like when I was talking optimistically, but I will mention it now. Obviously, people would not be feeling very good. There would probably be so much more people who are depressed, anxious, possibly even suicidal.
