The Internet
I was having a conversation with a friend of mine about periods of history when I came to the realization that there is no other time in all of history that I would rather live in than today. There are many reasons for this but the big one is the internet.
Of course I love the fact that I can get sick, walk into a hospital, and have them hook me up with some drugs to take care of business. I like being able to drive to wherever I want. I like being able to eat whenever and whatever I want. But, and I think we tend to take this for granted how profound this is, I like to immediately have any question I can possibly think of answered by doing a little internet research!
The internet is, in my opinion, the most important technological development of human culture. While one can argue things like fire, cars, medicine, mass productions, and so on are more important there is nothing that will be more directly responsible for human prosperity than instant information wherever you are on earth. And it's nice to get your porn when you want it too.
Maybe I'm naïve but I believe in the war of ideas the "correct" always wins. It may LOOK like the "incorrect" wins on occasion but, eventually the "incorrect" is always overcome by the "correct". Poor ideas are marginalized and good ideas become mainstream over time... survival of the fittest in metaphysical form. The internet is the conduit by which good ideas collide with the bad and, as a result, the human race can't help but take steps toward prosperity.
Here's an example; Germany, 1938... Fascism + racial extermination = BAD IDEA. How might the political and cultural events that lead to World War 2 been altered had the entire world been able to see, in real time, everything that was occurring in Germany. How would Hitler have gained power with droves of opposing ideas for prosperity at the populations fingertips; "What!? We can turn this depression around and we don't have to kill anyone! This idea sounds WAY better than this Hitler character's crazy scheme." Would we have sat around for as long as we did if we genuinely knew the depths to which Hitler was going?
We receive more information in one day through the internet than our grandparents did in their entire lifetime through day to day life. You can get driving directions instantly. You wanna know what the capitol of Nigeria is, easily done. You can get a degree. You can get a recipe for steak. You don't have to wait for it or take a special trip to the library... you have it, at your fingertips; NOW.
The internet is, in essence, a colossal entity that houses all of human knowledge and ASLO provides a constantly available conduit by which that knowledge can be accessed. While crazy shit like what some dude at MIT is doing to make piss-fueled cars isn't in there, it most certainly will be in time. A guy who develops a better mouse trap in his garage doesn't have to wait for the world to beat a path to his door. The world's already at his door hungry for what he has to offer.
I think there are some pretty weird things in store for humanity. Our information apatite is endless. These things will sound weird, even impossible, but we will see them in the future... maybe not in our lifetimes... but some day.
We will eventually become so stimulated by the information we receive that we will begin to utilize a larger percentage of our brain. As a result we will start to see super-geniuses increase in number. These super-geniuses will eventually become the dominant population on the globe and technological and cultural developments will increase exponentially beyond what it is today.
A bio-tech wireless network will be established that gives us the ability to access the internet through thoughts. This network will function like the internet but we will always be "plugged in", even in our sleep... we will be able to learn a new language, chemistry, or music while driving to and from work or while we take a nap. Computer viruses and human viruses will become one and the same and a new industry of "techno-medicine" will form as a result.
"Idea sects" will form, in exactly the same way Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and all other religions formed. These "Idea sects" will, much like religion today, will be devoted to answering the big questions (why we're here, what our purpose is, what the meaning of life is, etc.). These groups will wrestle with one another's beliefs and even fight wars between one another as hyper-intelligent people, uncompromising in their beliefs, will butt heads.
Imagine telling someone from 100 years ago that, in the future, people will have little boxes in their house that spit out whatever information we want 24-7.
Imagine telling someone from 500 years ago that, in the future, people will carry little devices that allow them to instantly communicate with any other human being on earth 24-7.
Imagine telling someone from 1000 years ago that, in the future, people will sit in colossal machines made of metal that can fly them to anywhere in the world.
Imagine telling someone from 2000 years ago that, in the future, people will live in structures capable of providing instant water for cleaning, fire for cooking, and cold for food storage.
These people would look at you and laugh... What will happen 100, 500, 1000, and 2000 years from now? We can't even begin to imagine.
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