It seems that in the not too distant future a person could have a digital avatar that is convincingly human. So in effect people would design or choose how they wanted to look online; or at least greatly augment their appearance.
People could look like anything and any age, in real-time video, using widespread technology!
Galaxies are micro specks in the universe, yet the nearest galaxy to Earth is tens of thousands of light years away. This should make the ego feel silly, and the heart in awe at the unimaginable immensity of it all.
There are five stages in the human expansion story:
Intercontinental;
Interplanetary;
Interstellar;
Intergalactic;
Interuniversal?
To physically visit a planet at the intergalactic stage might be entirely irrelevant to any intelligent species that evolves to such a level to circumvent the speed of light – they may discover something fundamental to the nature of the universe that is completely incomprehensible to us, in our rudimentary stage of development.
Upload speeds:
Handwriting = 40 words per minute (wpm)
Touch-typing = 70 wpm
Speaking = 150 wpm
Download speeds:
Listening = 150 wpm
Reading = 200 wpm
Thoughts: 1,000 to 5,000 wpm
Science fiction presents some baffling themes around causality; for example, the future is the past because events are synchronous in all places at the same time. The current everyday understanding of causality is equally bizarre, however, since a causal chain of events cannot lead back forever, without having a prime initiating point that is outside of these rules.
The implied current direction for the future is that all the functions of your phone will be migrated directly into your brain. The “screen” will be projected into your vision and options chosen by thoughts.
All vision, sound, thoughts and feelings could be recorded. You could download and replay any recording from your experiences, or indeed from any experience of anyone else. Communication by mindscapes would replace the spoken and written word.
Invented experiences could be created for you to replay or interact with.
Your perception of reality could be changed and selected thought patterns switched off.
Pleasure and pain sensations could be activated on demand.
Your thoughts could interact with an artificial intelligence that calculates the most efficient algorithm for any process you wish to undertake. You could instantly download data and skills; and have immensely augmented cognitive processing speeds.
Your mind could operate any physical body, humanoid or not. As only the brain would need to be maintained, you would potentially have ultra long life.
Of course a totalitarian regime could easily control their population by these means; and an empowered sadist would run amok in all the enslaved minds. Philosophically it makes me wonder what it is to be a human being, but in the realm of practicalities it makes me certain: humans must become worthy of the knowledge we are gaining.
200,000 years ago, anatomically modern humans in the world.
5,500 years ago, the written word begins.
475 years ago, the Scientific Revolution.
250 years ago, the Industrial Revolution.
150 years ago, the Technological Revolution.
70 years ago, digital electronic computers.
29 years ago, the Internet.
13 years ago, Smartphones & Social Media.
Another big changer due (or has already happened).
What will be the timeline in 1 billion years? The future could be completely incomprehensible from where we are now.
A pollyanna vision of the arc of technology is that if robots can do all the work at higher levels of productivity than people, then in theory everyone could be wealthy, enjoying the fruits of automated labour. People are then liberated from economic and social necessity to fully explore life; to hopefully find true beauty, love and self-actualisation – instead of struggling, worrying and fighting over limited resources to survive.
What would have happened if the US was not the first country to develop the nuclear bomb? What would have happened if the Nazis, Stalin, Mao or the Imperial Japanese Empire had the bomb first? No doubt after numerous live demonstrations on target cities, the world would have been subjugated to the particular brand of sadistic totalitarian control.
As technology progresses, additional existential threats to humanity will happen more regularly – the most frequently noted in biological engineering, artificial intelligence, and nanotechnology. Technology is also making it ever easier to centrally track and control people’s behaviour, enabling the ideal conditions for any strain of despotic regime to thrive.
The pressure to evolve to survive is growing for humanity; given the stakes and the alternatives, we have to get better.
Robert Walker 