Was too bored studying Chemistry, so I decided to write something.
Anyway, lately I was listening to Gorillaz's latest environmental themed album, Plastic Beach :O... It is a cool album, tons of techno and electronic element though. Kinda gave me a brain stimulation thinking about what the future holds
Here are the album arts, in case you're trying to find it in a CD store :D
Speaking of the future, it's just so exciting and gloomy at the same time isn't it? With all the budding technologies that is coming up, coupled with the rise of environmental issues and ongoing global conflicts, one would think that at this point, it could go either way.
So, what am i doing today? Well, I'm going give you a glimpse of what Plastic Beach gave me, I'm going to do a little prediction on what to expect in the upcoming years, whether we're gonna live that long or not (we possibly could, read on :D ).
Now let's start with a recap on the major "revolutions" that shaped the course of human history shall we?
First, it was the "Hunting and Gathering" revolution. No a big deal, almost every animal hunt or forage for food. But they don't store/hoard foods for future consumption, and it was this little advantage that gave birth to a human tribal lifestyle, making the first humans "humans".
Then came Horticulture and Pastorialism. Horticulture simply means the raising of crops using hand tools, while pastorialism means the domestication of animal. Instead of finding food when they needed it, our ancestors found a way to create a sustainable food source, bringing the food to them instead of the other way round. This of course, saved tons of energy and allowed our ancestors more time to work on other stuffs, which subsequently developed culture.
Third was one of the most defining moments in human history, the Agricultural Revolution. It started off around six to seven thousand years B.C.. Agriculture allowed humans to produce a large surplus of food supply, allowing a burst of human population growth. The need for water to water the crops prompted our ancestors to settle around river banks, which gave birth to the first ancient civilizations. It was not until the 18th century that the Agricultural Revolution peaked. Then came the invention of steam engine, which sparked off the Industrial Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution changed the nature of jobs in a society. Steam engines were introduced into almost every sector of the economy, especially agriculture, replacing lots of human labor in the process. The focus of the economy shifted from extracting raw materials, to processing raw materials industrially. Not only were we mass-producing finished products, technologies were also improving rapidly, and the average human lifespan increased significantly!
Since the invention of computers, human growth had increased multiple-fold. Computers brought about the Information Revolution. Ladies and gentlemen, this is where we're in the middle of, the rise of information processing, and many refer the people born when computer technology started flourishing as the "Generation X", implying a new chapter in human history. The nature of jobs too was changed, as in the Industrial Revolution, instead of working with real objects, we're now working with abstract information. Service and creativity jobs replaced a lot of labor jobs. This is where almost aspect of human life improved in leaps due to the rapid growth of new technologies.
So where are we heading to at this point of time?
Green Revolution
The rise of Industrial Revolution slowly resulted in human "Oil Addiction". Simply put, we get most of our energy sources from fossil fuel, and as much as we like to use it, it is finally taking its toll on us. Environmental issues are not news, and it's caused by our addiction to fossil fuel as a source of energy. And today, we're at the tipping point where if the problems are left unsolved, we could go down as the generation that failed the human race.
Now I wouldn't be surprised if that happened, given that we're entangled in this messy web of connections between fossil fuel and the current human lifestyle. It would take bold steps for us to change our lifestyles to allow "oil rehabilitation".
But if we do take the first steps, it could pave way for the "Green Revolution", where we seek to reform our methods of obtaining energy to a more sustainable one. I'm predicting this to happen in a few decades, in fact, it could just happen in the next few years.
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New World Order
The world has 194 nations, each with distinct government style. This is a brave prediction LOL, but I'm predicting that within 200 years, the world's nations will finally be united under a single government to form a New World Order.
Now it might seem impossible for it to happen for now, given the differences in view between the different peoples in the world. But think about it, the development of transportation technology had caused globalization, which kind of spawned a global culture.
There are nations which are poor and where the people there do not get enough exposure to the global culture, but given enough time, its growth would catch up and peak. At that moment, the global culture would be diffused into almost every society, and uniting all nations under one government is a more feasible feat, if not a more efficient, way to manage the world's resources.
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The Singularity
Given the rate at which the computational powers are growing, it wouldn't be long before computer gets as intelligent as human. The term for which this event is "The Singularity". Science visionaries predicted that this would happen in around 2030.
As exciting as it might sound, it might yet bring a new problem to humankind. Think for example, what if the computers decided that humans are an inferior race and tries to terminate us? Go watch Terminator : /
Androids, human-like robots, would raise yet many issues. How would you distinguish between an android and a human, given that they have the same intelligence, same outer appearance? Would it be okay to marry an android? What about killing one? Do we need android right laws, just because they are as intelligent as we are?
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Genetic Revolution
The human genome was finally cracked and published in 2003, opening new doors to the field of genetics.
As to today, humans are already quite adept at manipulating genetic materials. We cloned animals, we modified the genome of crops, we introduced genes to bacterias to mass produce stuffs. It would just be a matter of time before we start tinkering with human genome, isn't it?
The Genetic Revolution, I predict, would happen within 50 years, when our moral understanding catches up with the development of the technology.
Genetic Revolution would see human lifespan increasing dramatically, possibly extending it by 50-100 years or indefinitely. The prospects are promising, new medical technologies spawned from the understanding of genetics could greatly reduce diseases, inherited or contracted.
By breaking moral barriers, we might also see the birth of the first "superhumans", a generation of newborns genetically modified to optimize physical health, which could lead to a split in the evolutionary timeline of human race, where the rich who could afford the technology would be superior to the other humans who couldn't afford the technology.
Cloning too, might also become widespread, though absolutely immoral by today's standard. But moral judgments change with time, cloning might become morally accepted in the future.
The application of genetic engineering is almost limitless, although not all are practical sometimes. Imagine creating a whole new species of "chimaeras"?
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Space Colonization
Earth is limited, soon we could run out of resources, or if we can even get that far, run out of spaces to live. Space colonization is just a matter of time, be it on the moon, or mars. It could happen much earlier than we think it will.
But the process of building a livable place will take a long time. For moon, maybe decades from the start of colonization process before we can really live there. For mars, from at least a few centuries to a millenium, due to the need to terraform the whole planet into a sustainable habitat.
In any case, it would be very uneconomical to colonize other planets at least until we start mastering ways to harness earth's resources efficiently.
My prediction? Within 100 years for the moon, 300 years for Mars.
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Death of Abrahamic Religions
Now of all the predictions this one is really the boldest one. I'm predicting that the Abrahamic Religions - Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, will drop from the "Religion" status to "Cult" status, or at least a "Minority" status, within 3 generation's time from now.
Given that these religions already have a deep root within the current world societies, they would be hard to fade a way , at least not without a fight. But the increasing understanding of the universe has prompt lots of us to question the validity of many of the religious teachings. Such as the question "Is blind faith alone suffice for our life?"
On the contrary, secular movements are picking up momentum. Ever since the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, many people started questioning if the traditional religious teachings are still relevant in the current world anymore.
Of course, some sects of the religions adapt, but it is still stigmatized by secular advocates. Some adaptations are more inclined to the current world situation, some straying away. But in any cases, it results many different world views within ONE religion alone, and this will cause the religion to split into smaller ones.
As for the "Death of Religion"? Probably not gonna happen given that it is part of human nature.
While religion will still play a big part in human society, the definition of religion might change in the near future. Instead of being "a sacred institution that provides spiritual relief", it might change into "a socializing institution that provides moral guidance", or something like that.
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Phew. That's all for my post today. Hopefully you understood it LOL!
Till next time, I'll be studying, cheers~
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