A Personal 50 Year Projection

    Humanity has existed on the Earth for approximately 50,000 years. To this day we can clone animals, manipulate nature in the form of agriculture and solar energy, and even split the particles of an atom in order to create energy in the form of nuclear fission. Technology has been rapidly advancing since the 11^th century.  To put into perspective the gravity of this technological boom, “The founder of IBM, Thomas J. Watson, about the future of computers said in 1943, ‘I think there is a world market for about five computers.’ Multiply this number by a billion to reach the reality of our time!” (Zewail 228 ). From the invention of the wheel, to the development of the Model-T, to the innovation of jet planes that can travel beyond the speed of sound; society has continuously molded itself with the discovery of these modern marvels. Humans have since developed intricate languages, systems of education, philosophies of government and religion (and many more institutions), and have thus erected prosperous civilizations, unique and magnificent in their own respects. With such amazing technological advancements within recent years one can only wonder what the future will  herald. Mike Wallace, reporter for 60 Minutes, has compiled a montage of essays from the world’s sixty greatest minds and has presented us with their views of the next fifty years. Based on my own beliefs and their visions of the future, I can see myself as a businessman whose work takes me all over the world by boat; my family will travel with me and we will enjoy life as world travelers with all the technological perks of the year 2058.

    I can see myself working as a businessman promoting new innovative goods and services to companies abroad. My work will somehow be correlated to the ocean, in response to the Blue Revolution, and I will thus be conducting business internationally in port cities. By the year 2058, people have realized the importance of environmental resources and in accordance the “Growing scarcity of water will require that the twenty-first century will need to bring about a 'Blue Revolution,' one in which water-use productivity is much more closely wedded to land-use productivity” (Borlaug 65). The Blue Revolution will open the doors for the advancement of several industries, especially the food industry; "It comes from aquaculture, a $52-billion-a-year global enterprise involving more than 220 species of fish and shellfish that is growing faster than any other food industry—so fast that fish farming is expected to exceed beef ranching" (Blue Revolution Discover Magazine). Because the ocean will have become so much more economic importance, an alternate form of fuel will be used for ships in order to protect threatened species of marine life. The lives of many animals will be saved "...using hydrogen as the juice in fuel cells to supply an endless, emission-free source of electrical power, for everything from ships to subdivisions" (Fuel Cells New York Times). I will have my own company-provided, hydrogen fuel cell powered yacht that will take me from port to port. My work will keep me busy year-round and thus my family will travel with me as we live on the yacht. The Blue Revolution is a tremendous movement that will greatly affect my life and the lives of my family.    

    The family dynamic will not be too dramatically affected by my work. The yacht will act as my family's home and we will be in port for several days on end. My wife will run her own business via the internet so she can work anywhere in the world. She will be part of a new generation of women who run entire industries and "...take a more proactive role in the workforce than even in the twenty first century" (Doherty 93). My children will receive an education similar to home schooling during their academic years. However, instead they will be working with classmates online as “The truly massively parallel multi-person connectivity has changed the nature of working in groups, and schools are effectively using this medium to encourage peer-to-peer collaboration” (Narayan 45). They will be part of a new means of education where they video conference entire lectures and learn at an accelerated rate over that of a normal public school. My children will still enjoy the benefits of human interaction from friends that they meet all over the world. We will also have a German shepherd named Charlie that lives aboard ship. Charlie will be the perfect companion because  “Dogs will still commonly be kept as pets, but keeping cats, hamsters, birds, and other animals will be uncommon because of the known danger of infectious agents they carry” (Torrey 23). Thanks to online collaboration, my work will not greatly affect my family's dynamic because we will be connected with our responsibilities regardless of our location. 

    Certain technological conveniences will be afforded to me on my travels in the year 2058. At this time everyone, from children to adults, will be equipped with personal PDA devices. These personal computers will dual as phones with high speed internet capabilities and music players with a large space for file storage, much like the handsets of the twenty first century. However, these tools will also have more elaborate and updated applications than their predecessors. For instance, online translators will literally "...repeat sentences spoken in one language and reiterate them in another, simply by talking into the PDA" (Narayan 45). A translator that can identify any language would be an essential tool in my line of work, as my career takes me all over the world and I would need to communicate with people who speak cannot speak English. Another perk will include a personal health monitoring system that is attached to my arm as a bracelet. This system will take readings for blood pressure, blood pH, organ functions, and other biological necessities and will send signals to my brain to release certain hormones to combat any problem. I will feel secure knowing that "...the monitor will constantly take readings of one's vitals because it stores and runs off of solar energy" (Zewail 229). The monitor will also be a comfort to my wife as she will know that her husband will not suffer any medical traumas during his travels. Marvels such as the translator and health monitor will revolutionize the concepts of health and communication. Eventually, technology will reach such an advanced stage that it "...[will] connect the world as a single collaborative unit..." (Brinker 137). 

    In the year 2058 I will be a businessman whose work takes me to port cities all over the globe by boat. Such a job will be feasible with the dawning of the Blue Revolution as the society looks to the ocean as a greater economic and environmental resource. My family will travel with me and we will all live aboard our lavish yacht. My wife will run her business over the internet while my children build an education through online lectures and emphasized peer-to-peer collaboration with students from various parts of the world. Certain technological advancements will also provide more convenience and security than in the twenty first century. This is to say that  “The next half century will tell us in many ways how much we have learned from the last half century” (Gelbspan 236). Mankind will adapt to its changing environment and we will develop new forms of technology and apply them "...to ensure that humans have healthier lifestyles" (Hooft 84). And I will work to shape this future that I have designed for myself as I sail into the next harbor of my own development. 

Works Cited

•    Feder, Barnaby J. "For Smaller Fuel Cells, A Far Shorter Wait." New York Times Newspaper. 16 March 2003. Retrieved 18 October 2008. <<http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D05EEDF1E3EF935A25750C0A9659C8B63>>       

• Holloway, Marguerite. "Blue Revolution." Discover Magazine. 1 September 2002. Retrieved 18 October 2008. <<http://discovermagazine.com/2002/sep/featblue>>.

• Borlaug, Norman E. "The Future of Food." The Way We Will Be 50 Years From Today 60 of the World's Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of the Next Half Century. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. 
• Brinker, Nancy G. "A World Without Breast Cancer." The Way We Will Be 50 Years From Today 60 of the World's Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of the Next Half Century. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. 
• Doherty, Peter. "Wind Farming in Pollyanna Land." The Way We Will Be 50 Years From Today 60 of the World's Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of the Next Half Century. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. 
• Gelbspan, Ross. "The Earth in 50 Years: Rescue...or Ruin?" The Way We Will Be 50 Years From Today 60 of the World's Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of the Next Half Century. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. 
• Hooft, Gerardus 't. "How Will Science Transform Human Society?" The Way We Will Be 50 Years From Today 60 of the World's Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of the Next Half Century. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. 
• Narayan, Chandrasekhar. "Diary Entry: 2058." The Way We Will Be 50 Years From Today 60 of the World's Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of the Next Half Century. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. 
• Torrey, E. Fuller. "The End of Psychiatric Illnesses." The Way We Will Be 50 Years From Today 60 of the World's Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of the Next Half Century. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. 
• Zewail, Ahmed. "The World in 50 Years: Revolutions and Repercussions." The Way We Will Be 50 Years From Today 60 of the World's Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of the Next Half Century. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008.