‘Magical future’ promises happier, healthier life for everyone
By Dick Pelletier
Of course, no one knows for sure how life will progress in the
years ahead, but if we consider advances in today’s
technologies, we can envision a future unfolding that truly
seems magical.
Desktop nano-machines, expected in the next decade, could
provide food, clothing, and household items at little or no
cost. Biotech wonders, already in early stage development, will
soon conquer most diseases and repair damaged and aging bodies
without surgery. And brain enhancements that connect our minds
with machines are in experimental phase today, and could become
mainstream within ten years.
Nano-expert Mike Treder believes home nanofactories could arrive
“as early as 2015, or certainly by 2020”. Raw materials like
carbon would feed into the machines, where billions of tiny
nanobots, directed by programs downloaded from the Internet,
will arrange atoms to make desired products. Home nano-systems
could reduce poverty in developing nations, Treder says.
Nanorex Chief Scientist Robert Freitas predicts stem cell
therapies and genetic engineering will correct many human flaws
including vulnerability to disease and aging. In the next
decade, Freitas says, scientists will regrow cells, tissues and
organs, and introduce them into our bodies without surgery. He
adds that tiny nanobots expected by mid-2020s, could repair
faulty DNA and ward off harmful pathogens.
Futurist Ray Kurzweil speculates that cognitive science advances
will soon enable non-biological intelligence to merge with our
biological brains. We will connect directly to machines enabling
us to control household appliances and other automated systems
with just our thoughts.
Imagine yourself in the future watching your favorite TV show,
and a pizza commercial appears. This is one of those images that
hit you at exactly the right time arousing an instant craving
for pizza. You stare at the screen and are thinking how much you
want that pizza. Finally, you silently think the word, yes.
Thirty seconds later, a flying pizza drone docks at your house
to deliver a piping hot pizza with exactly the right toppings.
In addition to the food, the drone also delivered a six-pack of
your favorite beverage. Your “yes” command to the pizza drone
launched an information chain reaction that included the food
you desired and your electronic payment. Welcome to the future
of marketing!
Today, while rich nations become richer, billions of people live
in extreme poverty with short, brutal lives. However, over the
next two-to-three decades, forward-thinkers predict many
developed states will provide distressed countries with tools to
increase the intelligence of their citizens. Economist Jeffry
Sachs believes this could eventually solve global poverty.
However, writer James Martin says that even though the future
looks bright, civilization could come to an end if humanity
cannot resolve its hostilities. Wars fought with nuclear or
biological weapons would be disastrous. The solution, Martin
says, is to develop greater human knowledge by expanding what he
calls, our “knowledge capability”. An intelligent civilization
of the future will focus on developing new technologies and
establishing colonies in space, and will not waste its energies
on intra-global conflicts.
Imagine living in a body forever-free from disease and aging,
and enjoying technologies in a world free from hostilities and
wars. Could this ‘magical future’ become reality? Positive
futurists say it can!
This article appeared in various print publications and
on-line blogs. Comments always welcome.
