An Entrance Exam from 2050: How would you answer?

Aaron Maniam, a poet, futurist and civil servant, has stumbled upon an admissions exam from the year 2050. It’s for those applying to study post-globalisation or transnational dialectic studies. He’s been generous enough to share it with his Facebook followers.

A large amount of people also contributed insightful questions from the future. I’ve included only a sample of all the questions. See the entire Facebook thread here.

Are these future questions you wish could happen?

Or are they futures to be avoided?

And how do we prepare for it today?

If you’re looking for more questions from the future, check out these questions from 2066.

Global Universities Testing System (GUTS)

Common Admissions Examination 2050 – for students applying to courses in History, Post-Globalisation Studies and Transnational Dialectics

Answer ONE of the following questions, using a presentation mode most suitable to the tone and tenor of your answer. 3D videos are admissible in any of the four major global formats.

1. How far did the periods 1800-1820, 1900-1920 and 2000-2020 illustrate the belief that international human conflict is cyclical rather than structurally determined?
2. “The international institutions established after World War II were meant to herald new forms of global order, but were really little more than an interregnum between periods of disorder.” Discuss.
3. Was the advent of the Chinese Internet a cause or consequence of the failure of globalisation?
4. Do you agree that the “post-polar” world began after the 2016 Presidential Elections in the USA?
5. Why did historians start describing the period 2009-2020 as “The Greater Depression” only after 2030?
6. Can we finally analyse the implications of the French Revolution?

Contributed Questions

1. “Ever closer union” doomed the European Project. Discuss.

2. Explain how universal income bred authoritarianism that led to the demise of the Saudi monarchy.

3. Assess the impact of the “One Belt, One Road” to global order.

4. Alexander Fraser Tytler once said:
   “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government… The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”Given that the United States will be celebrating 274 years of independence next year, to what extent do you agree with Tytler’s claim?

5. Was Xi Jinping the first emperor or the last technocrat of contemporary China?

6. The Indian Ocean Rim Free Trade Area comprising East Africa, GCC, SAARC, and ASEAN is really a revival of the trade routes of the 1000-1700s. Discuss.

7. The late-2030s was the great era of VR-based spiritual and religious renewal. How did the Barcelona Commune and Caracas Ayahuasca movements differ as a response to the end of the capitalist era?

8. Explain what factors led to the second “Taiping Rebellion” in 2019 and how this event transformed East Asia. Please be sure to include all official languages and dialects in your response.

9. Discuss the main arguments and legal merits of all major parties involved in the territorial dispute over Mars.