A Glimpse into the Future

 

                Fifty years from today will seem like a page out of a science fiction novel. Humans will live well into their 100s if not 200s. Lethal diseases will be easily corrected.  Technology will allow both organisms and objects to be created. The green movement will revolutionize city life.  Despite this paradigm shift, we will still be human.    

                 In half a century people will experience supernatural health. The lifespan of humans has always been increasing, but in a mere 50 years people will routinely surpass a 100 (Smoot 5). Triple digits will become possible through, “Nanotechnologies the size of atoms [which will] transform cancer treatments by infiltrating and destroying cancer cells” (Brinker  138). The harmful side effect usually associated with deadly diseases will be a thing of the past “because the drugs will be especially designed for each patient” (Restak 75). But treatment does not begin with the diagnosis. Before a child enters the world, we will “be able to predict his or her predisposition to heart disease, mental illness, and a range of other maladies” (Ciechanover 129). While this will help those yet to be born fend off most sicknesses, those who already exist still have hope for a better life. Richard Clark predicts, “Decades from now, replacing organs grown from our own stem cells may also be routine” (71). This stem cell advancement would allow people of all ages to replace organs that are malfunctioning. A heart or kidney transplant would no longer involve a long waiting list that some cannot endure.  New organs would allow life to be expanded significantly and the quality of life enjoyed to be greater. Such advances causes Dawkins  to think that science “will destroy the mystical absurdity of souls being detached from bodies” (209). Without a soul, the purpose of life will vanish.  “But people will still be searching for answers to the meaning of life, and most of us will continue to find comfort and joy by discovering God’s love and grace, (Collins 6).”

 

                Everyday life in the future will consist of a plethora of occurrences that would astound the world today.  It will not be unusual to have the family dog constructed rather than conceived (Mack 114). Young children will be regular drivers of cars with, “anti-crash sensors surrounding them” (Bryant 165). The future earth will have to sustain a population of over nine billion people (Canton 192-193). The increased population would leave a lethal ecological footprint but energy from fossil fuels will be replaced with “energy technologies including solar, wind, wave, biomass, nuclear and fuel cells.” (Energy). This switch will only be the beginning of the green revolution.  China is one of several countries building cities of the future. “Dongtan aims to reduce its water needs by using technologies such as green roofs — building tops covered with plants — to capture and filter rainwater and by recycling sewage and other waste to fertilize and irrigate nearby farms”(Cass).  Water conservation and clean energy will be the only options. Still, some environment issues will persist. 

 

                A glimpse into the next half a century would shock even the savviest individual.  People will experience an advance health care system that begins before birth. They will live to ages which are now inconceivable. Their daily life will constitute  numerous of technologies that will make life easier and help the plant.  Despite the sci-fi image, humans will not be robots. They will still be human with the capacity to love, hate, and want.  Yet people of the future will not be at all like those of the past.  Life spans of centuries and inventions will change the social environment. The consequences or benefits of such a lifestyle will have to be discovered and dealt with in the future.

 

 

 

 

 Works Cited

 

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. Wallace,

          M. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. 136-140.

Bryant, Joseph L. “The View as I Glide By.” The Way We Will be 50 Years From Today: 60 of the World’s Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of the Next Half Century. Wallace, M.

        Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. 164-166.

Canton, James. “Some Words from ‘Dr. Future”.  The Way We Will be 50 Years From Today: 60 of the World's Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of the Next Half Century. Wallace,

        M. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. 192-196.

Cass, Stephen. "Future City Dongtan." Discover Oct2008, Vol. 29 Issue 10, p60-60, 1/2p, 1 color

Ciechanover, Aaron. “The Paradox.” TThe Way We Will be 50 Years From Today: 60 of the World’s Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of the Next Half Century. Wallace, M.

        Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. 128-130.

 

Clark, Richard. “What Does it Mean to be Human.” The Way We Will be 50 Years From Today: 60 of the World’s Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of the Next Half Century. Wallace,

        M. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. 68-73.

 

Collins, Francis S. “A Revolution in Medicine.” The Way We Will be 50 Years From Today: 60 of the World’s Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of the Next Half Century. Wallace, M.

        Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. 4-6.

 

Dawkins, Richard. “The Future of the Soul.” The Way We Will be 50 Years From Today: 60 of the World’s Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of the Next Half Century. Wallace, M.

        Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. 206-209.

"Energy conference to illustrate Abu Dhabi's 'Vision 2030'." Arabia 2000.24 Sept. 2008.

Mack, Tim. “Snapshot of a World with the New Nation of California.” The Way We Will be 50 Years From Today: 60 of the World’s Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of the Next Half

        Century.Wallace, M. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. 112-115.

 

Restak, Richard. “A Brain Scientist’s Perspective.” The Way We Will be 50 Years From Today: 60 of the World’s Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of the Next Half Century. Wallace,

        M. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. 74-77.

 

Smoot, George F. “ A Tiny Dot in Cosmic Time; A Big Period in Human Time.” The Way We Will be 50 Years From Today: 60 of the World’s Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of   

       the Next Half Century. Wallace, M. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. 7-10.