One view of the near future is that terrorists will get nukes and set the atmosphere on fire, or global warming will kill us all, or bird flu will create a pandemic, or the world economy will melt down, or all of those disasters will happen at once. I suppose that’s possible. But I think it’s more likely we are entering a golden age.
My Golden Age prediction assumes technology will continue to surprise us, especially in the energy realm. The high cost of oil has generated a seemingly endless parade of energy technology research and subsequent breakthroughs. I mentioned a bunch of them in previous blogs. Here’s another example just from this week:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/earth/4243793.html [no longer available]
If even a fraction of the energy breakthroughs reported in the past year become reality, the economic implications are staggering. It would be a bigger impact than the invention of computers or cars. As the cost of energy approaches zero, and our skill at creating manufacturing robots improves, almost anyone will be able to afford almost anything. Education will become universal once the cost of a laptop reaches $1 and it doesn’t need to be plugged in. With education comes more doctors, and the cost of healthcare will drop until everyone can afford it.
Medical science is proceeding at a staggering rate. Now there’s reason to believe even Alzheimer’s will be treatable.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/93508.php [no longer available]
A friend of mine has a replacement hip. Another friend has a new heart. A third is going in soon for a new knee. Even internal replacement organs are being grown in labs that will have no risk of rejection because they are made from your own cells.
Wars appear to be shrinking too. World Wars I and II will probably be the final wars between major powers. The biggest powers of today are more interested in being trading partners than foes. As nations become more connected, via economics and the Internet, the risk of war decreases. All war requires a certain degree of lying to the citizens, and the Internet will continue to make that harder.
We citizens will remain pessimistic about the future. That’s our way. And that pessimism is exactly what we need to drive the technological advances that will bring the Golden Age. If we trusted the Golden Age to come on its own, it wouldn’t. It will take a lot of work. Luckily, that work is happening.
Do you think we’re entering a Golden Age?