Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100 (62 page)

You face the wall screen and say, “Molly, please call Dr. Brown for me.” You are suddenly grateful that robotic doctors do house calls any time of the day. And they never complain or bellyache. It’s not part of their programming.

Dr. Brown’s image instantly appears on the wall screen. “Is there something bothering you, son?” he asks in a fatherly way.

“Doc, I have to ask you a question that’s been troubling me lately.”

“Yes, what is that?” asks Dr. Brown.

“Doc,” you say, “how long do you think I’ll live?”

“You mean what is your life expectancy? Well, we don’t really know. Your records say you are seventy-two years old, but biologically your organs are more like thirty years old. You were part of the first generation to be genetically reprogrammed to live longer. You chose to stop aging at around thirty. Not enough of your generation has died yet, so we have no data to work with. So we have no way of knowing how long you will live.”

“Then do you think I will live forever?” you ask.

“And be immortal?” Dr. Brown frowns. “No, I don’t think so. There is a big difference between someone who lives forever and someone who has a life span so long that it hasn’t been measured yet.”

“But if I don’t age,” you protest, “then how am I supposed to know when to get …” You stop yourself in midsentence. “Ah, okay … you see, I just met someone, ah, special, and, assuming I want to plan a life with her, how do I adjust the stages in my life to hers? If my generation hasn’t lived long enough to die,” you continue, “then how am I supposed to know when to get married, have kids, and plan for retirement? You know, how do I set the milestones in my life?”

“I don’t know the answer to that. You see, the human race is now a guinea pig of some sort,” says Dr. Brown. “I’m sorry, John. You are in uncharted waters here.”

The next few months are a wonderful surprise for you and Karen. You take her to the virtual reality parlor, and have great fun living out silly, imaginary lives. Like being a kid again. You enter a vacant chamber. The software of a virtual world is beamed into your contact lenses, and the scenery instantly changes. In one program, you are fleeing dinosaurs, but everywhere you run, another dinosaur pops out of the bushes. In another program, you are battling space aliens or pirates trying to board your ship. In another, you decide to change species and morph into two eagles that are soaring in the air. And in another program, you are basking on a romantic South Sea island, or dancing in the moonlight with music gently floating in the air.

After a while, you and Karen want to try something new. Instead of living out imaginary lives, you decide to lead real ones. So, when you both have vacation time together, you decide to take a whirlwind tour through Europe.

You say to the wall, “Molly, Karen and I want to plan a European vacation. A real one. Please check on flights, hotels, and any specials. Then list possible shows or events that may interest us. You know our tastes.” In a few minutes, Molly has prepared a detailed itinerary.

Later, when walking through the ruins of the Roman Forum, you can see the Roman Empire resurrected in your contact lenses. Passing by the scattered columns, stones, and debris, you gaze on the might that was once Imperial Rome at the height of its glory.

And shopping is a delight, even when bargaining in the local shops in Italian. You can clearly see the translations appearing beneath the person you are talking to. And no more guidebooks and clumsy maps. Everything is in your contact lens.

At night, gazing at the night sky over Rome, you can clearly see the stars arranged into constellations in your contact lens. Glancing across the sky, you can see magnified images of the rings of Saturn, soaring comets, beautiful gas clouds, and exploding stars.

One day, Karen finally reveals a secret, her true age. It’s sixty-one. Somehow, that doesn’t seem very important anymore.

“So, Karen, do you feel happier now that we live so long?”

“Yes, yes!” she replies immediately. “You know, my grandmother lived in a time when women got married, had a family, and maybe squeezed in a career. But I like to feel that I’ve been reincarnated three times, with three careers, and never looked back. First, I was a tour guide in several countries, traveling the world. It was a wonderful life. Tourism is such a huge industry, with plenty of jobs. But later, I wanted to do something more relevant. So I became a lawyer, defending cases and people I cared about. And then, I decided to indulge my artistic side and started my Web design company. And you know something? I’m proud to say I never used a robot. No robot can be a personal tour guide, win a case in court, or produce beautiful artwork.”

Time will tell, you think to yourself.

“And are you planning a fourth career?” you ask.

“Well, maybe if something better comes along.” She smiles at you.

“Karen,” you finally say, “if we stop aging, then how do you know when the best time is for, you know, well, getting married, having kids, and raising a family? The biological clock went out the window decades ago. So I was thinking, maybe it’s time to settle down and have a family.”

“You mean have children?” Karen says, a bit surprised. “That’s something that I haven’t considered seriously. Well, until now, that is. It all depends on if the right man comes along,” she says, as she smiles mischievously at you.

Later, you and Karen discuss marriage, and what name you might choose for a kid, and also what genes you want the kid to have.

You go to the wall screen and say, “Molly, can you give me the list of the latest genes that have been approved by the government?” As you scan the list, you see the various genes for hair color, eye color, height, build, and even some personality traits that are now being offered. The list seems to grow every year. You also see the long list of hereditary diseases that can be cured. Since cystic fibrosis has run in your family for centuries, it is a relief not to have to worry about that anymore.

Scanning the list of approved genes, you feel that you are not just a future parent, but some sort of god, creating a child to order in your image.

Then Molly says, “There is a program that can analyze a baby’s DNA and then give a reasonable approximation of its future face, body shape, and personality. Do you want to download this program and see what your child might look like in the future?”

“No,” you say. “Some things should be left as a mystery.”

Karen is now pregnant, but her doctors reassure her that there is no danger in taking a ride on the space elevator, which is now open to tourists.

“You know,” you admit to Karen, “as a kid, I always wanted to go into outer space. You know, do the astronaut thing. But one day I thought about sitting on top of millions of gallons of volatile rocket fuel that could explode with a single spark. Then my enthusiasm for space travel began to cool a bit. But the space elevator is different. Clean, safe, with no mess. That’s the way to go.”

As you and Karen get into the elevator, you see the operator push what looks like the Up button. You half expect to see the lingerie department. Instead, you feel yourself soaring into outer space. You feel the slow acceleration as you rapidly rise into the air. The gauge on the elevator reads, “10 miles, 20 miles, 30 miles …”

Outside, you see the scenery changing, second by second. One moment, you are staring at fluffy clouds passing by as you soar into the atmosphere. Then the sky changes from blue to purple to a deep black, and finally you see the stars surrounding you in all their splendor. You begin to make out the constellations as you have never seen them before, blazing away in the distance. The stars are not twinkling, as they appear from the earth, but staring brightly, as they have for billions of years.

The elevator slowly comes to a stop about 100 miles from the surface of the earth. From space, you see a dazzling sight that you previously saw only in pictures.

Looking down, you suddenly see the earth in an entirely new light. You see the oceans, the continents, and the lights of megacities that shine into outer space.

From space, the earth appears so serene that it’s hard to believe people once spilled blood fighting wars over silly borders. These nations still exist, but they seem so quaint, less relevant today, in an age when communication is instantaneous and ubiquitous.

As Karen puts her head on your shoulder, you begin to realize that you are witnessing the birth of a new planetary civilization. And your kid will be among the first citizens of this new civilization.

And then you take out an old, worn book from your back pocket, and read to her the words of someone who died more than 100 years ago. It reminds you of the challenges facing humanity before it attains a planetary civilization.

Mahatma Gandhi once wrote:

The Roots of Violence:

Wealth without work,
Pleasure without conscience,
Knowledge without character,
Commerce without morality,
Science without humanity,
Worship without sacrifice,
Politics without principles.

(The authors’ names refer to the books listed in Recommended Reading.)

1
“In his newspapers of January 1, 1900”:
Rhodes, pp. 29–30.

2
“It will be as common for the citizen”:
www.learner.org/workshops/primarysources/corporations/docs/
.

3
“Everything that can be invented”:
quoted in Canton, p. 247.

4
“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”:
quoted in Canton, p. 247.

5
“I think there is a world market”:
quoted in Canton, p. 247.

6
“It is now definitely established”:
Cornish, p. 149. See also: “The Facts that Got Away,”
New York Times,
November 14, 2001.

1. FUTURE OF THE COMPUTER: MIND OVER MATTER

1
“Where a calculator like the ENIAC”: Popular Mechanics,
quoted in Kurzweil, p. 56. See also: Andrew Hamilton, “Brains That Click,”
Popular Mechanics,
March 1940, p. 258.

2
“Technology [is] the knack”:
Rhodes, p. 206.

3
“Those components will eventually include”:
Babak A. Parvie, “Augmented Reality in a Contact Lens,”
IEEE Spectrum,
September 2009,
www.spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/bionics/augmented-reality-in-a-contact-lens/0
.

4
“There’s some physiological evidence”:
Gary Stix, “Jacking into the Brain—Is the Brain the Ultimate Computer Interface?”
Scientific American,
November 2008, pp. 56–61.

5
“It’s like being an astronomer”:
Jeff Wise, “Thought Police: How Brain Scans Could Invade Your Private Life,”
Popular Mechanics,
October 15, 2007,
www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/neuroscience/4226614
.

6
“possible to identify, from a large set of completely novel natural images”: New Scientist,
October 15, 2008, issue 2678.

7
“Can we tap into the thoughts of others”:
David Baltimore, “How Biology Became Information Science,” in Denning, pp. 53–54.

8
“I am told”:
Ibid., p. 54.

9
“Perhaps something like the
Star Trek
tricorder”:
Bernhard Blümich, “The Incredible Shrinking Scanner: MRI-like Machine Becomes Portable,”
Scientific American,
November 2008, p. 68.

2. FUTURE OF AI: RISE OF THE MACHINES

1
“Scientists Worry Machines May Outsmart Man”:
John Markoff,
New York Times,
July 25, 2009, p. A1,
www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/science/26robot.html?scp=1&sq=Scientists Worry Machines May Outsmart Man&st=cse
.

2
“Technologists are providing”:
Ibid.

3
“just at the stage where they’re robust”:
Kaku, p. 75.

4
“Machines will be capable, within twenty years”:
Crevier, p. 109.

5
“It’s as though a group of people”:
Paul W. Abrahams, “A World Without Work,” in Denning and Metcalfe, p. 136.

6
“Today, you can buy chess programs for $49”:
Richard Strozzi Heckler, “Somatics in Cyberspace,” in Denning, p. 281.