Will Humans Evolve Further Or Destroy Themselves? A Relevant Question Actually
By Lance WinslowMany people believe that humans are at a crossroads, and that our technology and innovation is moving so fast that pretty soon humans will be evolving because of our biotech sciences much faster than normal human evolution could ever take place. Some people find this to be an absolutely fascinating time, while others tell us we are on the brink of disaster, and as we make mistakes thus, it is possible we could end up destroying the human race, rather than bettering it.
Many religious folks seem to believe this, that we shouldn't fool around with God's creation, others are scientists who may not even believe in God, but they say the writing is on the walls, and we are not heeding the warning quick enough, and we are making mistakes as we go, some of them could be quite costly. As a self-proclaimed futurist, and the founder of a think tank which happens to operate online, I understand both points of view - still I see this is a very exciting time.
Not long ago, I was discussing this with a fellow innovator who has many of his own patents, and I mentioned to him that; regarding the challenges of hyper-evolution (Singularity Institute theories) and destruction through poor judgment of leadership or misuse of dual-use potentials of our technology there could be severe challenges to the future of homo sapiens, I definitely concur.
Then I asked a very troubling question; "What are your biggest concerns on such things?" And before I allowed him to answer the question, I thought to myself that the answer could perhaps be; bio weapons. That is something that should keep scientists up at night, and should be an ethical discussion amongst everyone in the biotech industry, as well as the nanotech industry as we move forward with medical solutions for all of the new concepts coming forth.
There are also going to be challenges with molecular particle assimilation and dissimilation, antigravity technologies, and future alternative energy sources. So many things which can be used to create energy, are inherently useful for dual-purpose technologies, that is to say for destructive purposes. Let's not forget that those that created the atomic bomb later regretted it. Will we regret one day the technologies which we are busy researching to perfect in the present period?
It is a relevant question, and yet, it is mankind's curiosity and need for progress, research, and discovery which will propel us forward either way. Let's just hope "Forward" isn't the direction which is headed off a cliff or down a road with a dead end. We should be asking ourselves; "forward to where" and "change to what" and hopefully we can answer these questions truthfully before we make more mistakes with the unintended consequence. Please consider all this and think on it.
Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Future Concepts. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net
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