No*s
Captain Obvious
In light of the destruction of society thread, I'm going to put up one for the opposite. It is true that I see many terrifying things on the horizen ranging from enviromental problems to political problems to new weapons and so on, but I am also hopeful that we can by-pass them. Of course, I'm not looking forward to the water shortage or when the enviromental disasters really make us all fret, but I do look forward to some of the advances I think will come.
Of course, I want to hear what other good things people hope will come, but here's mine:
1). I'm looking forward to computers that are integrated with neurons or other cells to increase their processing power. I don't know if there's any research in that direction, but I would be surprised if there wasn't any research into it. Since we've hit a digital plateu of sorts with clock speed (not RAM, storage, onboard caches, and the like...just clock speed), this would be nice. We have so many good things that could benefit from this type of processing power, that it's outstanding.
2). In a related tangent, I know this is being researched. I'm looking forward to our being able to hook computers directly up to nerves and receive the responses. In this way, we could have things as diverse as fully functional artificial prosthetics to direct net connections a la 3001 and so on.
3). Connected to 1, I'm looking forward to mass-produced multi-terabyte storage. It will make information available faster and better than ever before. That will truly be wonderful for keeping freedom alive.
4). This one is far-fetched, but I believe I read somewhere that they are working on using quantum mechanics to teleport particles from one place to another. I couldn't help but imagine the possibility of NICs that use such technology to create a truly wireless internet that also wouldn't have radio waves that could be interecepted. The ultimate form of encryption: transmission without possibility of interception. Current DNS-style software could do a lot of the IP resolving in a situation like that
.
5). This is my most ridiculous hope. It probably can't happen, but it would be nice if we could hook up all these computers to share processing power, and create a sort of random series of mutations in it it to simulate evolution and create a digital biosphere. One of the forces in natural selection would be servicing humans both in desire and in practical terms. Once that is hard-coded in, we have a situation where the computers would act that way and not transgress it anymore than a dog transgresses being a dog. It would create a self-sustaining digital network that corrects (and creates) its own security problems and maintains itself. It could also regulate trade and other such things and create a balance using the same forces that govern nature, but with safeguards in place from evolution.
Like I said, it probably can't happen. I see too many problems with its creation, but it would be nice.
6). I hope to see us use viruses to eliminate bacteria, protozoa and the like in our foods and help wipe out more diseases quite efficiently, make food clean, etc. Heck, it might even be able to be used to wipe out cancer (I know there is research into these applications).
7). I hope to see a space-mining industry develop to hopefully help us expand our resource base before consumption destroys it.
8). More enviroment-friendly fuels and tech. If we have those, we might be able to begin off-setting the damage we do. I just hope we can do it before our situation is too dire and irreversable.
9). I hope nanotechnology will make production cheaper and more efficient. If we could fit a factory on a table, then we could have proffesional level goods produced more easily. This, in turn, would have a trickle-down positive effect for third-world countries that have yet to build a solid industrial base.
10). I hope that digital technology and the ability to share information will make much government regulation obselete, whether it is because it is impossible, or because it renders it redundant. Things like copyrights could disappear and a collective approach to our problems could arise.
I know that much of that is very much sci-fi, but I'm somewhat optimistic about our future despite our equally bleak prospects. Just as we can destroy ourselves, we can also build ourselves up. The same technology that harms can also be used to heal. I'm not a utopian (that is stupid IMO), but I do think that we can do good...
Of course, I want to hear what other good things people hope will come, but here's mine:
1). I'm looking forward to computers that are integrated with neurons or other cells to increase their processing power. I don't know if there's any research in that direction, but I would be surprised if there wasn't any research into it. Since we've hit a digital plateu of sorts with clock speed (not RAM, storage, onboard caches, and the like...just clock speed), this would be nice. We have so many good things that could benefit from this type of processing power, that it's outstanding.
2). In a related tangent, I know this is being researched. I'm looking forward to our being able to hook computers directly up to nerves and receive the responses. In this way, we could have things as diverse as fully functional artificial prosthetics to direct net connections a la 3001 and so on.
3). Connected to 1, I'm looking forward to mass-produced multi-terabyte storage. It will make information available faster and better than ever before. That will truly be wonderful for keeping freedom alive.
4). This one is far-fetched, but I believe I read somewhere that they are working on using quantum mechanics to teleport particles from one place to another. I couldn't help but imagine the possibility of NICs that use such technology to create a truly wireless internet that also wouldn't have radio waves that could be interecepted. The ultimate form of encryption: transmission without possibility of interception. Current DNS-style software could do a lot of the IP resolving in a situation like that
.5). This is my most ridiculous hope. It probably can't happen, but it would be nice if we could hook up all these computers to share processing power, and create a sort of random series of mutations in it it to simulate evolution and create a digital biosphere. One of the forces in natural selection would be servicing humans both in desire and in practical terms. Once that is hard-coded in, we have a situation where the computers would act that way and not transgress it anymore than a dog transgresses being a dog. It would create a self-sustaining digital network that corrects (and creates) its own security problems and maintains itself. It could also regulate trade and other such things and create a balance using the same forces that govern nature, but with safeguards in place from evolution.
Like I said, it probably can't happen. I see too many problems with its creation, but it would be nice.
6). I hope to see us use viruses to eliminate bacteria, protozoa and the like in our foods and help wipe out more diseases quite efficiently, make food clean, etc. Heck, it might even be able to be used to wipe out cancer (I know there is research into these applications).
7). I hope to see a space-mining industry develop to hopefully help us expand our resource base before consumption destroys it.
8). More enviroment-friendly fuels and tech. If we have those, we might be able to begin off-setting the damage we do. I just hope we can do it before our situation is too dire and irreversable.
9). I hope nanotechnology will make production cheaper and more efficient. If we could fit a factory on a table, then we could have proffesional level goods produced more easily. This, in turn, would have a trickle-down positive effect for third-world countries that have yet to build a solid industrial base.
10). I hope that digital technology and the ability to share information will make much government regulation obselete, whether it is because it is impossible, or because it renders it redundant. Things like copyrights could disappear and a collective approach to our problems could arise.
I know that much of that is very much sci-fi, but I'm somewhat optimistic about our future despite our equally bleak prospects. Just as we can destroy ourselves, we can also build ourselves up. The same technology that harms can also be used to heal. I'm not a utopian (that is stupid IMO), but I do think that we can do good...
