Wishy-washy question. New diseases emerge all the time, and what do you mean by "deadly"? Almost all diseases can be deadly some of the time, almost none of them are always deadly. We've had several "new" diseases that are deadly often enough to be worrying, but no wide spread new ones that are as deadly as rabies. Also, what does it mean for a disease to be "new"? Because of a lack of sexual procreation, and therefore lateral gene transfer, neither viruses nor bacteria are species-forming. Every new individual ever is a new diverging point for a line of successors, and that line will never, can never merge back with the rest of the population. The point at which a strain has mutated enough to be called a new disease is basically a matter of opinion.

Gay marriages will be commonplace

Again, wishy-washy question. What is commonplace? I don't know a lot of people who would still object to gay people's right to marry, but I personally don't know a single married gay couple. Is it commonplace? I can't tell.

Country will have elected a black president

Clear yes. A big part of the country had a very dangerous and still going meltdown over it, but still, the answer is a clear yes.

Country will have elected a woman president

Clear no, if by a small margin on two occasions.

Illicit drug use, such as marijuana and cocaine, will be commonplace

Again with the "commonplace". It's hard to define. I'm going by "illicit drugs" meaning drugs that were illegal on a federal level in 1998 (not that this will make that much difference). By my gut feeling, I would say this was already "commonplace" in the eighties and nineties. Though it does seem to have increased since then.

AIDS will be cured

There have been a small number of cases where it actually worked, but to my knowledge nothing universally applicable. AIDS treatments, however, have become so good that the disease is no longer seen as a major problem of our times.

Cancer will be cured

That was always a non-starter, and even people in 1998 should have known that. Cancer is not one disease, at best you can cure a small specific subset of cancers.

Most stores will be replaced by shopping on the Internet

Brick and mortar stores have become fewer, but it's hard to tell how much of that was Internet shopping and how much was market consolidation into powerful big-box stores.

Most people will do their jobs from home.

We didn't even come close to "most" during Covid. Most jobs just cannot be done from home.

United States will be involved in a full scale war

What's "full scale"? There were certainly a few that were "full-scale" for the other side. Shit, there only just was one shortly before this poll was conducted…

[–] birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 week ago

Actually, didn't Hillary get more votes than Trump?

[–] DokPsy@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Some cancers have been cured

Gay marriage is still effectively illegal in many areas and the push for completely illegal is constant

"Most jobs" could be done remotely depending on how you'd see most. Almost all office jobs can be done remotely. If you're in front of a computer all day, you are likely able to do it remotely. You do not have to physically be in an office. If I had to guess, they asked a bunch of office workers as they had more time to actually go through questions like this

I contend that the US has not stopped being at war since at least Regan or Bush sr. See: Afghanistan starting with the support of the mujahideen

[–] nickhammes@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

There have been a small number of cases where it actually worked, but to my knowledge nothing universally applicable. AIDS treatments, however, have become so good that the disease is no longer seen as a major problem of our times.

We have a type of stem cell treatment used in extreme blood cancer situations that had cured a number of people of AIDS. To my understanding, it should work for most patients, but it's a risky and extreme enough procedure that it's not worthwhile compared to the standard treatment regimen. But if you also get leukemia, the treatment might cure both diseases.

Cancer is not one disease, at best you can cure a small specific subset of cancers.

With one given treatment, maybe. As far as I'm aware, there aren't any cancers that are in principle untreatable, though a handful are very difficult to cure people from. We have a wide variety of treatments for a wide variety of cancers, some of which are now really close to 100%.