Kids of the Future
By: Keith
Michio Kaku, in the video above, is talking about exponential technological growth and ubiquitous computing. What he doesn’t talk about, and which I think is a component that he’s missing, is the limits people place on themselves and those around them. Science is hindered by lots of things. Wars and religion are two factors that contribute to the slowing of human advancement. Sometimes wars are unavoidable, and sometimes religion, or ethics (not the same as religion), stops us from advancing too quickly for our own good. However, generally speaking, we’d be better off with less religious interference and a greater cooperative spirit in the sciences. For the good of our kids and our future as a species science should be given more intellectual resources. The quicker we can master technology the quicker we can advance the future or our kids – so they can live in a world that is more comfortable and that has greater possibilities.
The future looks different to everybody. Some people envision shining cities, disease free populations and an abundance of liberty. Others don’t see such a bright future; they see a ruined environment, mass poverty and concentration of power in the hands of a few. Maybe they don’t even think there will be a future. I don’t believe that, but I can’t say such a pessimistic view isn’t possible if we can’t pull ourselves together and start working more productively. I believe our future as a human race lies out in space. Earth is a tiny little insignificant speck even in this solar system. By galactic and universal standards it barely even exists. Any number of catastrophic things could happen here to permanently end us. Climate change, an asteroid, a gamma ray burst, nuclear war, disease, solar flares and the list goes on. The first step is to find a way to survive in space. You and I are earth bound; we’re not going anywhere. But perhaps our kids or grandkids will find a home on the moon or on mars. Maybe their kids will extend themselves beyond our solar system. Sounds crazy, but not to me. I believe science can accomplish almost anything. The more we use and develop it the further we’ll go and the better our kids’ lives will be.
There’s this lunar hole that scientists have been looking at recently. They’ve got this idea that it’s big and deep enough to put a lunar colony into. I’ve gotta say it doesn’t look overly appealing to me, but who knows. Technology could advance to a point where such an endeavor might be not only bearable, but enjoyable. People have been wrong before. Heavier than air flight was mocked. The speed of sound was thought impossible because aerodynamics and jet engines were not developed enough to put it into the realm of possibility. People may think of robots as being futuristic terminator type stuff, but the reality is that we’re living with primitive robots right now, and it’s only a matter of time before science catches up with vision. I’m not discounting anything, especially not space colonization.
I’d be curious to know what you think the future will hold for our kids. Are you optimistic about our chances as a species? Do you think we’re doomed or probably doomed? The speed of light might be an impossibility, but do you envision other ways of getting around through space? Are we too fragile a species to endure? I prefer to think we’ll make it.
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I think that the truth about the future is that whatever technology we have, people are still people. Religion as an institution isn’t going anywhere. War is a part of this ever corrupted world until such time as it ends or is ended. History repeats itself because the one thing we can’t program into our children are the lessons we’ve learned from history. Each generation must begin at the beginning emotionally and psychologically. I am not convinced the human race can be Rodenberrian, no longer needing to learn morals because we somehow become morally superior to what we are now or have been in the past. I also believe that the earth has a way of correcting the wrongs done to it. Cut down the rain forests, for example, and we unwittingly unleash diseases for which we have no cure or destroy the cure for disease that already exist. And humanity is decreased naturally, right? Poverty, disease, scientific achievement, wealth and revolution come and go. Death is the great equalizer, all other things being unequal. I don’t mean to be morbid or lack imagination. I merely think that despite technology, people are people. Period. I’m not better than someone from a “primitive culture” from ages past because I drive a car. Nor will my children be better than me because they have microchips in their clothes. You might have times of amazing advancements such as the days of Camelot and the great oath of the Round Table, the Renaissance or the development of democracies, etc. But walking along side these things are the Vikings, the plague and Nazism. Take the good with the bad. I enjoy technological advancements as much as anyone else. But we are what we are. We’ll use them for both good and bad. Tomorrow… who knows. It might be Camelot; it might be a plague. I’ll put my faith in God… that primitive pastime of my forefathers that keeps getting us in so much trouble. (Not God’s fault, I think, but ours.) And I will keep walking because I think in the end, Keith, as far as tomorrow is concerned, that’s all that’s really left for us to do.
Wow, Beth. That’s a really thoughtful answer. Thanks for chiming in! I want to think we’re advancing as a species more than we’re staying static. I just wish we could advance faster. I do admit that the core of our persons are not better than our ancestors (soul or value as people). However, we’re smarter and more advanced so, in a way, I feel a little superior. I’m sure our decedents will think we were a bunch of Neanderthals by comparison. I’m fine with that. The middle ages were a time of relative stagnation and confusion in Europe. Pockets of progress existed, but it was mostly just, well, dark. The myth of the Arthurian knights shows how desperate people were for an English Myth Story that could tie disparate people together. People clung to the church for stability (understandably) and purpose in a brutal time. I hope we can, as time goes by, become more bold with our scientific discovery. When people are just trying to survive, it’s hard for them to work on academic problems.
I’m of the Brave New World and 1984 mentality- that humans are not individually evil, but as a collective whole create massive problems. Game theory is one way to explain this phenomenon. So what does the future hold for our kids? People are people, so I’d suggest that they’ll be just like us, except with bigger toys and the ability to inflict more damage on one another.
That is, unless some form of restraints are put in place. Then you get the negative utopia. It’s not that all people are bad– it only takes a few to ruin it for all of us. So— some gloom and doom for you!