We have all seen the world change around us. Just take a closer look. In a little under 20 years, the internet, what could possibly be the greatest creation of all mankind, has found it's way from DARPA, academia, and corporations all the way into our home computers, laptops, and now to our mobile devices like cell phones and tablets. The information revolution has begun and we can safely say it is here to stay with profound implications for humankind.
We have created a "always-on," global community in which the world's knowledge can be shared in real-time and information retrieval has become as easy as a Google search.
Our generations are witnessing a point in human technological time which has people like Ray Kurzweil and myself very excited. Kurzweil, a famed inventor, author, and futurist, has worked within the modern computing world for almost as long as it's inception. He has received numerous backings from the likes of several esteemed persons, including Microsoft's Bill Gates, and is now experiencing mainstream attention in the form of a TIME magazine cover, a documentary on mainstream film festivals soon to be released, and interviews with several online sources like BigThink.com about his ideas concerning the future of mankind. All of his ideals draw from what Kurzweil has named, The Law of Accelerating Returns.
This law, which Kurzweil outlines in depth in his 2005 book, "The Singularity is Near," is an extension of the more familiar Moore's Law, which states that computing power on a given chip doubles roughly every 18 months. Up to this point in time, Moore's Law has held true since Intel co-founder Gordon Moore's explicit statement in 1965. Kurzweil's Law of Accelerating Returns takes it even further, identifying an exponential trend in the growth of technological progress over time. So not only is technological progress increasing, but the rate at which the progress occurs is also increasing. When a threshold is reached, a "paradigm shift" occurs in which a new technology is created to surpass that threshold and the law continues.
Now, back to the status quo. We are experiencing the rapid onset of technological progress like never seen before in human history, and that progress will continue to increase well into our lifetime at a faster and faster rate. This will bring an unprecedented amount of technological change that will eventually fundamentally transform everything about or lives, from how we live to how long we will live. Kurzweil posits that this progress will culminate in what is called a singularity, a point in time which changes our reality so much that it becomes infinitely more difficult to predict. For us, that may be the development of artificial intelligence far beyond our own that continues to improve upon its nature with its exponentially increasing efficiency and intelligence. Or perhaps it is the augmentation of our own intelligence utilizing nanotechnology or genetic manipulation, that creates a vastly superior problem-solving ability for the human race. Whatever the case may be, it is coming.
While the date is placed anywhere from 50 to 100 years from now depending on the source, the singularity will represent a momentous jump in our evolution. For some, it is the "passing of the torch" so to speak from the past into the far, far future. A preparation for humankind for all of the challenges that the universe places against our survival and a ticket for our civilization to proliferate among the stars. For others, it is something to be avoided. A future that will bring dystopia and destruction to the human race.
I take the more optimistic view personally. I believe that we can utilize our technology for the greater human race. We can solve so many problems previously thought to be outside of the realm of our understanding, and create a sustainable future in which all humankind contributes parts to the greater collective whole. However, we must get there first.
We need to make a push for a new age of scientific learning to solve those problems. The next 20 years may be the most crucial in determining our distant future as we face some of the greatest challenges against us. Overpopulation, radicalism, and war will ravage this planet only if we allow it. Instead, let's take a more educated, reasonable path and use the amazing things we have created to sustain life on this planet. After all, as far as we know, we are the only manifestation of life in our cosmic neighborhood which makes our existence even more precious.
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