Possibilities for a "magical future" ahead
April 02 2008 / by futuretalk
Category: Biotechnology Year: General Rating: 9
Opinion by Dick Pelletier
As the future advances, humans will continue to radically change
themselves. Today, it’s mostly external – glasses, hearing aids,
cell phones, “smart” cars, and a growing global brain (the
Internet). 
However, during the “golden age of biotech,” 2010-2020, we will understand much more of the inside of our bodies as we go about looking for solutions to cancer, heart disease, brain disorders, and other illnesses.
This search will eventually enable us to not only solve most of our medical problems, but we will develop enhancements along the way that improve our lives.
Then as we enter the “golden age of molecular nanotech,” 2020-2035, we will resolve all of our medical problems (including aging). Enhancements will take center stage during this time and the drive will not slow down until our bodies become mostly non-biological.
However some people believe that biotech advances must come at a price – the loss of authentic happiness or the loss of what makes life meaningful, such as when we struggle, suffer frailty, finitude, and eventually die.
(cont.)
But this thinking does not square up with what we experience. Do those who use glasses, insulin injections, wheelchairs, inhalers, oxygen tanks, hearing aids, or prosthetic limbs feel inauthentic or overcome by a loss of meaning in their lives?
If I use a calculator, a computer, or the Internet to solve a problem, do I feel that I was cheated out of a more authentic experience enjoyed by my grandparents, who used pen and paper calculation, visited a library, or mastered the multiplication table? Of course I don’t. There is little evidence for the dour view that we must earn our happiness in order to be happy.
We are truly headed for an incredible future. Once our bodies become more non-biological, by mid-century or so, we could even take on the characteristics of a new species. And our human emotions and feelings might be enhanced to such degrees that we would never want to return to today’s simple world. It’s mind-boggling to imagine the changes that humanity will undergo in the coming four or five decades.
I realize that this kind of an extreme positive future may be hard to conceive in today’s crude world with wars, crime, and human inequalities everywhere; but our desire for survival and improvement could drive this utopian dream forward and turn it into reality during the lifetime of many of us alive today. At least that’s the dream.
How do you feel about the possibilities for an optimistic future? Do you think it could happen in your lifetime? Comments welcome.
Comment Thread (2 Responses)
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There is little evidence for the dour view that we must earn our happiness in order to be happy.
This is true. It has been shown that happiness is generally consistent despite life circumstances. One study that compared lottery winners with physically traumatized individuals found that their happiness levels had returned to the baseline 6 months following the respective incidents. This sort of habituation indicates that biology intends for emotional reward mechanisms to remain stable over the life span.
However, in the near future neural implant devices like the iPlant will be able to short-circuit brain habituation, unlocking new emotional potential – both positive and negative. This override may well mark a point of no return for human behavior past which we will assume a great deal more responsibility for what we do and why. At the same time, this transition seems inextricably linked to the game of life and will likely reveal a great deal about the deeper rules that govern our bio-info-tech existence. My hunch is that the structure(s) that we uncover will appear to us quite magical.
Just my 2 cents.
Posted by: Alvis Brigis April 03, 2008
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Excellent Comment Alvis,
I agree that technologies aimed at altering our minds will go forward at exponential speeds over the next two-to-three decades.
I see a future unfolding that will nudge our minds into a more logical area, enabling humans to think more like their artificial intelligent silicon cousins. With enhanced neurons, we will be able to run zillions of simulations in a split second when faced with decision making, which would nearly always prevent us from making errors. We could become more like a “Mr. Spock.”
This would not mean that humans would lose the ability to feel emotions. We could frequently escape to virtual reality situations through something like a Star Trek Holodeck, and also share life experiences by entering another person’s mind to live brief instances as that person.
Possibilities in these areas will be mind-boggling. The challenges encountered in our future entertainment world, although loaded with fun, could serve to sharpen our minds as we go about terraforming the planet, setting up colonies in space, and trying to achieve a future that will truly seem magical when compared with today’s drab world.
Posted by: futuretalk April 03, 2008
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