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Future Trends
Here are some predictions that I think may be useful as seeding for thought on the potential states of the future:
The jobs are going away. In the future people will be paid to simply not be violent. They’ll receive sustenance and entertainment credits.
Nano-technology will become the future of warfare. You’ll have a vast marketplace for both defensive and offensive nanoware. Attack nanoware will be able to target and destroy people with certain characteristics–obesity, stupidity, race, gender, disease, etc. And the rich will have access to defensive suites that can defeat these various attacks. You’ll also be able to develop a specific pathogen that has a very specific “antidote”, meaning if you have this marker then don’t kill that person. We’ll call it the “Koch Marker”.
Being an actuary in the future will extend to everything. Everything about your health, your talents, your potentials, etc. will all be documented and captured in your bio, and this information will be available to any employer and potential business interaction point. So your chances of defaulting on a loan, or cheating on your wife, or becoming CEO, will all be quantified (to whatever extent possible), and that information will be used to determine whether you get a promotion, get healthcare services, or get a mortgage.
Everything will be monitored at all times by everyone and everything. All cities will be wired. Most people will be wired. Everyone is always broadcasting what they are hearing and seeing. The result is that these feeds are sources of intelligence for entertainment and intelligence, and are sold as such. You’ll get a discount on your taxes if you give the government access to your feed 24/7. And most importantly, there will be no dirty jokes or talking bad about your boss, as all of those things will be potentially used against you immediately. There will be “sanctuaries”, where you can go and not be monitored, where people actually have some privacy. Then, after this plays out, we’ll just become immune to the secrets as the pee will already be in the pool.
Reproduction in the future will become sacred. People being raised improperly will, rightly, be seen as a great offense against humanity. Given the lack of jobs, the lack of good services, and the lack of chances of someone doing well in a world of over-population–it’s basically child abuse to bring someone into the world without being able to guarantee their success. As such, focus will pivot to properly raising the people who do exist. Extended or indefinite lifespans will magnify this effect, as the focus will be one maximizing happiness with the people and resources we have, and it will be seen as horribly bad for society to bring someone new into the fold without extraordinary planning.
The world will come to accept that free will is an illusion, and we will pivot to treating people in the way that best promotes the wellbeing of society as opposed to concepts of retribution or “backward-focused” treatment.
We will be able to supplement our mental capabilities with those of computers and the internet, with increasing levels of seamless integration. First it’ll be a visible implant that causes a delay when interfacing with Google when answering questions, but soon after it’ll be impossible to know what came from your own brain and what came from the internet.
Consciousness will be captured within digital form, and our minds will essentially become immortal. At that point we’ll be struggling to simply pivot our minds between bodies to live forever. The question will be how we can do this ethically, and of who will have access to doing it. At that point it becomes a privilege to live forever, and the gap between young and old in terms of wealth accumulation will be extraordinary. Basically, the poor only live for 200 years, and they aren’t nearly as augmented as the ancients, who are basically 1500 years old and hyper-intelligent. Guess who has all the money and resources?