I really enjoyed reading this article and in my opinion, you are right on the pulse – I believe that something big is on the horizon – whether it is natural or human engineered is something that remains to be seen.
It takes a certain amount of awareness to write this article – something which many people do not have or chose not to have.
I will definately look out for the book Future Shock.
Nicely done! I remember reading Future Shock back in the late 70’s as well. The pace of the world is definitely speeding up. The trick is going to be in separating the pace from the “human-ness” of society. Can we get faster without dehumanizing ourselves? Can we eschew the family dinner table and yet take the time to talk and listen to each other? We’ll see. This is a well written, thought-provoking article! Great job!
I personally think that machines do not have a mechanism for intelligence at the same level as humans and other organic lifeforms that contain a soul(or mind) to reason their environment. Artificial intelligence purely derives from system and order that is dependant on programming, and always reliant on it in order to sustain the life of the robot, and if this is created for destructive means, the robot will not ever change in its patterns of behaviour. If such machines are allowed to control situations then life will become stagnant and extremely systematic. Such machines will never be able to inspire, create or envision for the future, and should only be used as a means to obtaining goals based on utilizing them as appendixes, not as having a life of their own.
Technology could never overtake our ability to adapt and create, unless we allow it to. We could always out think it.
Interesting, especially since they are saying we will see ten times as much advancement in technology in the 21st century as we did in the 20th, which by the way far exceeded that of the 19th century………
When Star Trek characters talked to each other on wireless communicators, people said that could never happen. We didn’t think that video phones could ever be reality. George Orwell when writing 1984 had no idea that surveillance cameras like “Big Brother” would one day be in every bank and store and public building, or that that they could catch people running red lights and robbing convenience stores. Maybe in another decade or two we could be “beaming” across the ocean or to the moon.
None of us can perdict the future. If we try we will be in for some shcoking surprises. The future will bring so many new things that we can not even imagine.
I guess we all just have to embrace change as it comes. Some things are just way out of our control. Very nicely written article. Thanks for posting it.
Its certainly a possibility that man is on the verge of evolving into a new/sub species though blending with technology or genetic enhancement, or both. Whether that’s a good or bad thing remains to be seen.
Thank you everyone. I don’t know what the future holds, but when I look back at the past, it does seem like things are speeding up in every area of life. There is more change all the time, and I don’t know if that’s always a good thing.
Who can say what the future holds? One thing is almost certain, however: no matter whether beneficial or catastrophic, the acceleration of discovery and advancement of science and technology is increasing rapidly, as is the extensive damage we are dealing to our planet because of it. Let’s just hope we advance with enough haste to make use of “green” technology effectively, before we encounter repercussions.
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Post Comments hayes
On February 24, 2009 at 4:46 am
I really enjoyed reading this article and in my opinion, you are right on the pulse – I believe that something big is on the horizon – whether it is natural or human engineered is something that remains to be seen.
It takes a certain amount of awareness to write this article – something which many people do not have or chose not to have.
I will definately look out for the book Future Shock.
nutuba
On February 24, 2009 at 5:42 am
Nicely done! I remember reading Future Shock back in the late 70’s as well. The pace of the world is definitely speeding up. The trick is going to be in separating the pace from the “human-ness” of society. Can we get faster without dehumanizing ourselves? Can we eschew the family dinner table and yet take the time to talk and listen to each other? We’ll see. This is a well written, thought-provoking article! Great job!
Unofre Pili
On February 24, 2009 at 6:00 am
Very interesting piece John. In my opinion, this phenomenon is a sort of social consequence of the validity of the Darwinian evolution.
C Jordan
On February 24, 2009 at 8:12 am
This certainly makes you stop and think
Debra.
On February 24, 2009 at 11:14 am
Nice write, John. Very thought provoking.
Stacey T Pollock
On February 24, 2009 at 1:22 pm
I personally think that machines do not have a mechanism for intelligence at the same level as humans and other organic lifeforms that contain a soul(or mind) to reason their environment. Artificial intelligence purely derives from system and order that is dependant on programming, and always reliant on it in order to sustain the life of the robot, and if this is created for destructive means, the robot will not ever change in its patterns of behaviour. If such machines are allowed to control situations then life will become stagnant and extremely systematic. Such machines will never be able to inspire, create or envision for the future, and should only be used as a means to obtaining goals based on utilizing them as appendixes, not as having a life of their own.
Technology could never overtake our ability to adapt and create, unless we allow it to. We could always out think it.
Very interesting article. Thankyou for sharing.
Bren Parks
On February 24, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Interesting, especially since they are saying we will see ten times as much advancement in technology in the 21st century as we did in the 20th, which by the way far exceeded that of the 19th century………
Karen Gross
On February 24, 2009 at 4:55 pm
When Star Trek characters talked to each other on wireless communicators, people said that could never happen. We didn’t think that video phones could ever be reality. George Orwell when writing 1984 had no idea that surveillance cameras like “Big Brother” would one day be in every bank and store and public building, or that that they could catch people running red lights and robbing convenience stores. Maybe in another decade or two we could be “beaming” across the ocean or to the moon.
Ruby Hawk
On February 25, 2009 at 7:44 pm
None of us can perdict the future. If we try we will be in for some shcoking surprises. The future will bring so many new things that we can not even imagine.
Vikram Chhabra
On February 26, 2009 at 7:39 pm
I guess we all just have to embrace change as it comes. Some things are just way out of our control. Very nicely written article. Thanks for posting it.
Auron Renius
On February 27, 2009 at 4:48 am
Its certainly a possibility that man is on the verge of evolving into a new/sub species though blending with technology or genetic enhancement, or both. Whether that’s a good or bad thing remains to be seen.
John McDonnell
On February 28, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Thank you everyone. I don’t know what the future holds, but when I look back at the past, it does seem like things are speeding up in every area of life. There is more change all the time, and I don’t know if that’s always a good thing.
T B Forshaw
On March 5, 2009 at 7:48 am
Who can say what the future holds? One thing is almost certain, however: no matter whether beneficial or catastrophic, the acceleration of discovery and advancement of science and technology is increasing rapidly, as is the extensive damage we are dealing to our planet because of it. Let’s just hope we advance with enough haste to make use of “green” technology effectively, before we encounter repercussions.
T B Forshaw
On March 5, 2009 at 7:51 am
Important to remember is the ancient chinese insult: “may you live in interesting times”. Lets hope we don’t outreach ourselves.
Sandra A Flowers
On March 20, 2009 at 4:15 pm
great food for thought, and a great article