So various news articles and chats with friends and family prompted me to write this post, this article is a general thought blog and not a citation of facts.
400 BCE- 1900’s – Live Stock, Farming
Small groups of people living of the land, bartering and exchanging goods for monetary units. This by far is the longest phase of the human state. Note the level of acceleration on all further states.
1900 – 1950 – Late Industrial Era
Cotton , Railroads and the wars usher in the industrial era of our times. Many new advances are made in Chemical, mechanical and electrical fields.
1950-1990- Post Industrial
Outsourced manufacturing , Parallel development in multiple fields Atomic , Medical , Electronics Energy, generation provides for the cities of the Post industrial human state.
1990- 2015 The Digital Age
Brick and Mortar establishments fall to virtual super highways and automation in multiple sectors, Retail, Manufacture, Banking, redefining social interactions spurring jobs creation in tech sectors and automation.
2015 – 2040 Robotic Age/Virtual Age
Now thinking into the future analysts expect a robotic age where even the most menial tasks are automated. No doubt this would bring in a huge industrial complex and a new variety of jobs.
I think this is the age when our fundamental human existence starts being challenged, and we need to transcend humanity *somehow* it raises a lot of questions and am sure a sci-fi movie exists for every one of these.
- What happens when your every whim is taken care of ?
- What happens when a human thought process is considered too slow for any action (this is already happening ex: NYSE)
- What happens to institutions of social consequences. Family, Fundamental interactions with other humans are lost or becomes an inconvenience.
- What happens when products of human intelligence overtake biological evolution.
This can go on and on but this post was not about a Skynet scenario, how do we evolve from this point on? and how do we find the equilibrium to give us time, so biological evolution can catch up (or maybe we cheat and enhance our own DNAs?). This is where some inspiration from Star Trek and Isaac Asimov’s foundation may come in handy both of these look into the future and suggest possible outcomes over the millenia.
But here is the rub, every scenario looking far ahead requires us to grow up, to be moving out of our cradle “Earth” and not fear whats ahead. No scenario allows for indefinite pillaging of our planets resources.
- We need to find ways to spread across space.
- Finding “the way” to spread needs to become the next industrial complex after the 2015-2040 Robotic Age.
- The human combined collective intelligence needs to focus on that task.
- Governments needs to recognize the need and agree. (This is part of the human kind growing up process)
- Enabling technologies are critical, there is no way we are getting past our Solar system without finding a new “exotic” particle. I think Governments to a certain extent realize this with the CERN initiative. If this fails only options would be multi generational ships into space.
- We need to balance the human social institutions and interactions. Not everything should be driven from “convenience”.
“But man had been created with a hole in his heart, a hole that no possession, power, or knowledge could fill.” – Hell Boy II