“It’s not so hard to predict the future but it’s sometimes hard to connect the dots,” says famed geneticist, Dr George Church.
A recent gathering of renowned technologists, scientists, futurists and entrepreneurs recently painted a somewhat terrifying picture of what the world is going to look like in the next three decades. Many of us will still be alive to experience these changes – my children will be about my age, and my grandchildren will still be in their 30’s.
Some of this stuff seems far-fetched, but heck, put your conservative thinking on hold for a few minutes while you read a summary of projections by respected futurists of how technology is going to drastically alter human societies.
Speakers at Global Futures 2045 included inventor-futurist Ray Kurzweil, far-out tech entrepreneur Peter Diamandis and legendary technologist James Martin. These are people at the top of their fields, with established track records of seeing what’s coming before it gets here.
Here are their six prognostications on just how drastically life as we know it will change the over the next three decades.
The post-brain-map era
An accurate, functional brain map will undoubtedly change everything.
Neurological disease will largely become treatable. Brain implants will be commonplace. Genetic and cognitive enhancements (with huge leaps in computing power) will bring smarter, more efficient humans who feed greater ideas and innovations back into a positive feedback loop, leading to an avalanche of new technologies and economic opportunities.
The biotechnology age
Humans are the only species that extend our biological reach – we’ve done so for millennia with technologies that allow us to travel faster, increase our strength, talk and listen remotely. What we’re starting to do now is integrate that technology more deeply into our biologies through transplantable organs or implantable machines inside the body to alter or improve its performance (like pacemakers).
Your brain on the cloud
Brain implants will become commonplace, and they’ll unlock the power of the cloud. In the same way we use our smartphones to track down information across the web, within a couple of decades our brains will be able to access the collected information in the cloud.
There’s a limit to what can be stored and retrieved in the human brain. But with a direct line to the cloud, infinite information and processing power can be accessed. In other words, technology will extend the brain indefinitely.
Longevity and immortality
In the last 200 years the average life expectancy for people in developed countries has essentially doubled. It will continue to extend at accelerating rates. Within 10 to 20 years, there will be tremendous transformations of health and medicine. This will be commonplace within a few decades. When these life extension technologies are mature enough, the cost will come down enough to place it within the reach of millions – like buying aspirin.
Technocracy – the new aristocracy
Technology will be avalanching all around and those who have the best technology will be society’s élites. This is not so different than today’s gadget culture – the latest gadget can be an indication of social and economic status. The ability to enhance cognitive function will put the haves at an advantage that goes far beyond the have-nots. Technocracy will be the new aristocracy – the new 1%.
The Fortune 500
Half of the Fortune 500 will not exist 50 years from now. What worked in the last century isn’t necessarily going to work in the new one. The old models and old industries simply won’t be relevant.
Hey! I didn’t dream this stuff up. This is what a group of leading scientists, technologists, sociologists and futurists think the world the will look like in 2045. I suppose it compares with what today would look like to my grandfather, and yours. There’s not much that anyone can do except embrace the trends and prepare ourselves and our children for the new world that is already here.
To quote Yogi Berra: “The future ain’t what it used to be.”
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