Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Brink
I had suggested in my last post that perhaps the 21st Century future that has arrived, is a stunted version of the one promised us in the 20th. For decades the year 2000 had always been seen as the boundary of the future. The rapid pace of change in the 60s made it seem almost inevitable that the year 2000 would be scarcely recognizable to those born in the mid 20th Century or before.
But I also realized I was being a bit disingenuous as I wrote words to that effect last time. While our day-to-day lives are largely unchanged, save perhaps web browsing and cell phones, our work lives have changed enormously. Daily life only changes when either forced by necessity of crisis or when costs and convenience converge on some tipping point for adoption by the masses. Work on the other hand chases change to remain competitive.
Eventually new technologies (or global crisis) will change our day to day lives. So it is I decided to list discoveries or technologies, which if made or improved enough, will have a profound effect on mankind.
I initially started with about 4 society changing advances we will likely see in our lifetime, but then the list expanded to 35 as I allowed for more and more long shot discoveries that could be made, or allowed for longer time frames to be taken into consideration. As I crossed the 2000 word mark, and having barely touched on the first 4 advances, I realized I needed to serialize these entries. So it is today I am creating a new blog entitled: Brink, with the intent of exploring the likely hood and impact of various future scientific and technological advancements.
It is not my intention to necessarily explore these subjects in depth, this is merely a collection area for ideas. Once I have been through the initial list I will probably revisit the more important topics in greater depth and with more supplemental supporting material. Today's entry: Nuclear Fusion
