May 12 2008 / by futuretalk
Category: Other Year: General Rating: 11 Hot
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 by mid-2020s, 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 be accepted within ten
years.
Nano-expert Mike Treder believes home nanofactories could arrive
“as early as 2025.” Raw materials like dirt, water, or air would
feed into the machines, where billions of tiny nanobots, directed
by programs downloaded from the Internet, would rearrange atoms to
make desired products. Home nano-systems could reduce poverty in
developing nations, Treder says.
Institute for Molecular Manufacturing’s 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 nanrobots 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. (cont.)
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 will 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!
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