Reply To: Fate of the World

[AaronB]

Projections and predictions are easy to make, but they’re only as good as the facts they are based on. Facts become outdated very quickly. Any projection involving human behavior is even more difficult. Predicting the arrival of future technology, and what its impact will be at that time, is even more prone to extreme error, but it’s fun to try anyway. The pace of innovation is accelerating, so the world will be very different in 30 or 50 years. I can’t say how or how much it will be different, but it will be like the early 1900s compared to now. We are just scratching the surface of nano-tech, gene manipulation, fusion, brain mapping, social communication, robotics and AI. With even moderate advances in each of those areas, the future possibilities are awesome.

One day, in about 20 years, I may be able to think about a strawberry milkshake, and the nearest feeding station will whip it up, and a cute little robot will deliver it to me, and it will contain the customized ingredients and chemical instructions to tweak my body to optimal performance, lengthening my telomeres and dissolving the small accumulations of plaque on my teeth and in my arteries.