Greg Nixon is a husband, father, English teacher, reader and writer who writes on a variety of subjects. He enjoys the process of taking an idea, thinking on it a bit, doing some scribbling, and creating a piece that people will find engaging.
If you have teens preparing for college, please see his blog, The Student Financial Times, for relevant topics that he covers with his students in his class weekly.
Nanobot technology, using armies of soldiers no larger than red blood cells, in the next 40-50 years will be able to repair neuronal damage in the brain brought about by time and injury, according to futurist Ray Kurzweil. Kurzweil, who has 12 honorary doctorate degrees and numerous patents in the fields of computer science and technology, is highly sought after by such industry leaders as Bill Gates for his insight into tomorrow’s possibilities. This seer envisions a world that brings together a nexus of man and machine following an ever-rapidly unfolding event that he calls “The Singularity.”
Another advance that he foresees is the end of dependence on petroleum based fuels to satisfy the planet’s energy requirements. According to his figures, the sun has an ability to meet our needs 10,000 times over. Key to this occurring is the perfection of solar cell technology to capture sun’s power and store it efficiently until it is called upon to get our zero emission cars from home to work, run our hospitals, and ring our doorbells.
Along with the nanobots and the solar cell utopia, humans will also be able to download their memories in the evenings as a back-up to protect them from loss. This opportunity will enable the preservation of all that we learn, experience, and consider. If it can be downloaded, it can be uploaded as well. There will be no loss of “data.”
This is not material from science fiction novels. This is the reality that we will face one day. Ethicists’ voices will form choirs to challenge the wisdom of what Kurzweil is proposing. How does the human soul figure into the amalgamation of machine and man? Will there be a cosmic sacrifice to be paid due to a loss of man’s uniqueness after he is assimilated into the mainframe of a brave new world? If you are plugged in, could techno-terrorists turn you off? Where does a higher power fit into these considerations? Should he, or she, be enhanced as well to compete with the new human creations?
Answers will not be easily found. Purists will argue that we are as we are and that interference will only make our situation as a species worse since we are not privy to the particulars which underlie the foundation for our divine purpose. Opposing views will argue that we owe it to ourselves to reach our potential since adaptations are the keys to our survival.
Do you believe that man is fitfully and wonderfully made complete with his coexisting beauty and ugliness? Do you believe that he is called by a higher responsibility to reach the limits of perfection?
Now is the time to decide which path to take before one is chosen for you. Your children’s world depends on what you believe. Don’t let them down.
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