What will transpire during this Century? Will it be as transformational as the last one, or as the Century before that?Does anybody remember how people, regular people, not nobility, lived in the year 1800? Or for that matter in 1910? Then there were a couple of airplanes, no electric domestic appliances, not too many roads and bathrooms were a luxury. In that year, the Delag Zeppelin made its first commercial flight in Germany and the first commercial freight flight takes place in Ohio. In 2010, flying is boring. In 1910, people got a telegram, now it is an intelligent phone. What will it be in 2110? |
A view of the 21st century that encompasses an understanding of how civilization has been evolving for more than 50,000 years.
An open experiment that has produced not only technological progress, but also social progress. This process is comparable to the evolution of life and suggests the idea that human quality of life has improved continuously and that this progress has been accelerating since the renaissance, and maybe even before that time, and is now growing exponentially. It is entirely possible that scientific and technological progress will bring the end of scarcity; which could very well happen before the end of this 21st century. However, the present capitalistic trend of short term profit and greed cannot be continued because making or keeping people poor is against consumerism; keeping people poor means that there are less consumers thereby making everybody poorer. The future is shown from an optimistic viewpoint, which is fitting with the idea that civilization is always forging ahead improving quality of life. This is decidedly different from the plethora of books and articles that show an apocalyptic future. Moreover, civilization has improved continuously and even in the 20th century, with all its wars, catastrophes and failed dreams, quality of life improved dramatically. 
The 21st century is going to be the best that civilization has ever seen.
|
Vignettes It is important to consider the synergy that exists in all areas of science and technology and realistically evaluate the difficulties that are implicit in development; as well as those that are political and economical. And, taking into account the newness of most of these technologies: like the understanding of the human genome, nanotech and the advances in quantum phenomena and cosmology; we could relate the first thirty years of the 21st Century to the adolescent period of these developments. Most probably, the most we can hope from now to the year 2030 will be a wide-ranging grasp of the technological marvels that this century promises. * * *
The inclination of this book has been and still is optimistic. In this light, we can forecast that the 21st Century is going to be another
positive step towards humanity’s fulfillment. It is going to be a great century in which accomplishments will be evident on all fronts. Socially there will be growth, not only in the material well being of the population of the whole world, but, most importantly in the realization by the bulk of humanity that the best outcome possible is obtained when exploitation and materialism are set aside. Preview: The History of the 21st Century:  |