 |
||||
At the risk of showing my age here I must convey a small story. When I entered High School in the year 2000 (having survived Y2K) I was asked, 'How does it feel to be entering High School in the 2000?'. To tell the truth it didn't feel any different to any other school transition. In fact even through to the present day it doesn't seem like there have been any massive transitions. (outside of changing from analog to digital television). Perhaps the changes have been too small to be noticed but I doubt it. I look back to the movies I watched growing up. Most of which included the caption 'In the year 2005' (as well as 2020, 1999, 2015). The image presented by such movies was similar to the one in the above picture. In those times the 2000's were a far off dream predicted to be a wonder age. Yet having spent nigh a decade in the 2000's, it's far from this. The only major developments in technology are usually in the 'isomething' range. However, i still have some great hopes for the future. Cynicism has yet to drive my dreams from my mind.
My three main areas of hope are technology, society and Science. My hopes for technology are many. Firstly, I hope that we can drag ourselves away from dependence on fossil fuels. As Dr Michio Kaku describes become a 'class 1' society. However, the good Doctor says this is not going to happen until c.2100 C.E. Though i'm hoping that he may be incorrect on this figure. I would like to live long enough to see it. I would like to see developments in motor vehicles. They do not need to fly. However, making them from carbon composite fibres, with a hybrid fuel electric engine would be a great step in the right direction. In the field of technology I would like to see the ability to move beyond Earth. 2010 was originally scheduled as the year NASA would establish a base on the Moon. Though given the Global financial situation apparently this is less likely. (thank you greedy yankee bankers and stupid people taking out too many loans). I hope that before I die I live to see the first starships constructed and launched. I've got according to statistics another 60 years left in me. Although I have read sketchy reports about the research into downloading a person's consciousness into a robot. So maybe I could do that. Immortality sounds nice. In terms of society I hope to see the same patterns of change (although accelerated) that have occurred in the past. Tolerance, reason and liberty being promoted as high virtues and not merely words. I hope that the separation of church and state only strengthens. I hope that we live up to our Democratic ideals. That we learn the difference between Liberty and mob rule. Democracy at times has been perverted into a pure numbers game where anyone can be bullied by a mob. Reason, I expect to become a more pervassive force in society. To see the promotional of logic over purely emotive knee jerk reactions to choices. To see people taking a greater responsibility over themselves and their own actions. No more using crutches and excuses for behaviours. That fundamentalism and fanaticism become the mere object of humorous recounts around tables. That the prejudices that plague our present days become as out dated and laughed at as the ones held only some three decades ago. In Terms of Science my first and foremost hope, is that society learns to appreciate the role science plays. To be thankful for what it has given us. Greater life spans, lessened child mortality, cures to disease, communication, travel and infrastructure that allowed our ability to bloom in numbers. I hope that the groups that seek to stand in the way of science are not given their chance (i don't need to specify, nor you strain hard to think of these groups). I hope that government bodies will meddle less and fund more scientific research. I hope that there will be significant advances in the area of medical science as well. A key area of research that I hope will be advanced is the science behind Stem cells. As well as the science to clone organs. However hopes alone are never enough. Sacrifices have to be made at the individual level. Action taken. I have already charted out the next twenty years of my life towards doing something about my hopes. My hope is that I achieve something. -Ted Archer. |
 |
|||
