Life in 20 and 200 Years

The Future

This is my response to the question of the week by @ecotrain. For more info check here

No one knows what will happen in a couple of moments from now and yet we humans love to predict how the world would be in a couple of decades or centuries from now. This kind of desire shows the basic human need to control everything around us. Well, for some this could be a growth plan of some sort, but for me, this is a fun activity - time to let my imagination run wild based on current reality. With this said let me get started with how the world would be in 20 or 200 years from now.

Will there be true humans then?

In twenty years' time, yes I guess; but in a couple of centuries from now, I don't think there will be real humans.

What do I mean by that? The human race will not be what it is today. Neuralink by Elon Musk could be just a very tiny starting point in this area. Technology would have further advanced (?). We would be replacing human parts with machines, not just because of disability; we would be doing so for convenience.

There are people who implant their keys and payment modes into their body. Wrist implants are becoming common in some cultures today, but this is just the beginning. In 200 years this would be done on a larger scale to acquire super human powers.

The Superman movies aren't just movies, if you go back to watch movies of old you would notice that the technology showcased there as just an imagination at the time of making it is now in place. Richie Rich is an example.

Would we need schools?

I bet not, we would just have to download data from supercomputers and we'd be on our way.

We will not be spending time learning skills as we do now. The computers would do most of that for us, so what would we be doing? Learning to control the supercomputers and manage the machine we have at our service, I guess!

What would be the main focus of the human race?

That is not hard to guess from what is happening on the ground right? we'd be taking over space and trying to control the universe. This war for space is afoot already. We love leaving our footprints and garbage wherever we go (even in space) so I believe that would be our main drive.

Will we have names or an identity?

Twenty years hence we may still hang on to our identity and human nature, but barely by a thread.

200 years from now, I am not surprised if we would be a just a number that is tracked all day. Every aspect of our existence would be tracked and watched by the government machinery and we will be just data. Personal security and privacy would be words that will not mean anything and taken out of dictionaries the stored central data systems.

Would we all look alike? No, I don't think so, we would still love our creativity and we may come up with bizarre looks (what seems bizarre now may not be able to hold a candle to what we'll see then).

200 years hence it is a probability that we would be more metal than man.

Would we be searching for peace and harmony?

20 years from now we may be desperate, but 200 years hence, no I bet not, we would be searching for power - more likely superpower, and would give anything to upgrade our systems to be supra humans. We may not think it immoral to achieve power and control through any means.

Would there be a need for gadgets then?

Nope, I don't think so. We would be the gadget, the host and the controller. Of course, there would be higher powers controlling our thoughts and actions. You think I've gone too far with this? Elon's Neuralink monkey plays chess, ping pong and video games - with his thoughts of course assisted by the decoded data from his neural activity.

Would we become machines 200 years from now?

That could be a possibility. Ask Dr Peter Scott-Morgon the world's first human Cyborg. His latest update in March 2021 says he is thriving, his autobiography [Cyborn Again] (https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/317/317179/peter-2-0/9780241447093.html)' is now being serialized in the UK Newspaper- The Daily Mail.

Dr. Peter Scott, a robotic scientist, was diagnosed with motor neuron disease. He knew that he was facing imminent death and decided to slowly turn himself into a human cyborg. He lives as half man - half machine, defying death and hopes to be around for another twenty years or so.

How many more people are going to take this route and go beyond. I leave that to your imagination.

Welcome to the world of the Cyborn Again

What would be the most important thing in 20 or 200 years?

I guess it would be time, everything else could be bought but not time. We would be vying for more time on this planet to be able to achieve more.

Would men and women marry and reproduce?

I wonder if that would be necessary. Even with the current culture, I see that the institution of marriages is getting outdated.

With same-sex marriages and love being redefined every day, marriage would be an option only for a rare few.

Reproduction would be possible for the elite; with more resources to pay (I wonder if money would even mean a thing, we may switch to bartering). They could choose designer babies with perfect physical structures, smartness and intelligent, as they please from sperm banks. Two hundred years from now they would be made to order, in long factory lines. Did I take this too far?

Would we be emotional creatures still?

Sure, why not? AI (Artificial Intelligence) is right now in the emotional school. We would soon have sentient machines, taught and tutored in the art of human emotions by deep learning and machine learning. I believe we are making progress. It wouldn't be strange to have regular AI nannies who could relate to the little ones and teach them to laugh and talk in a one-dimensional sort of way. Adults could have AI sex partners, counselors, friends and companions all rolled into one who would fulfill all their needs without expecting anything in return. Love would have come a full circle, it would be take, take and take some more without having to give.

Abusive relationships may not be a problem then. Anger issues need not have to be dealt with anymore as creatures at the receiving end are only humanoids/ dummies. Do you see where I am going with this emotional thing? I leave the rest to your imagination.

Would there be purpose and meaning in life?

In another twenty years, the meaning and purpose of life may have changed a lot. The human values that we hold now may be lost in the sands of time.

200 years hence I guess there would be a strange kind of purpose and meaning to what life is then, it may have very little to do with the old world values. It may be a mechanical world with mechanical values to it.

To conclude

We are being watched, imprisoned and taught to live like robots right now with the Pandemic. (No, I am not a conspiracy theorist) but I see beyond what the governments of the world want us to see. In India, you are tracked 24x7 if you are diagnosed with Covid like symptoms. The GPS on our phone is activated to see where you are all the time legally. Nonetheless, Google does this all the time whether you've switched on your GPS or not. You've signed for all that when you subscribe to their products.

We are taught to obey commands. We do not handle real money anymore, our money how much and where it goes is tracked all the time, and one fine day you may wake up to realize that the government has taken it all away. (We experienced this in India to a certain extent already). This is just the shadow of things to come.

I only hope that I won't be hanging around long enough to experience/serve in a robotic world that I don't subscribe to.

The powers that be has all this and more chalked out for us. It is fine if you don't subscribe to my ides here, I've done my research and my analysis too, its up to you!

Thanks for patiently reading my post. Being an optimist I hate to sound pessimistic but I need to be realistic too.