Life in the 22nd Century

[futuretalk]

22nd century: strong bodies, meeting aliens, capturing starpower

By Dick Pelletier

 

What will life be like in the 22nd century? Of course, no one can predict the future that far ahead with 100% accuracy, but by tracking expected technology breakthroughs and adding a dash of imagination, we can create a plausible scenario of how life could unfold in the 2100s.

 

Future citizens possess minds with intelligence multiplied a trillion-fold over 2009 brains. By 2050, advances in science and technologies have eliminated aging, death, and poverty. In 2100, everyone enjoys life in a powerful non-biological body immune to dangers.

 

Those who remained “biological” found themselves struggling and often disadvantaged. By 2075, nearly everyone had switched to the stronger, but still considered human, nano-enhanced body. Conservatives who resisted eventually all died out.

 

The world was astounded in 2030 when NASA/EU telescopes discovered intelligent lifeforms on a planet five light-years away. Inhabitants of this faraway world were sending similar probes to Earth during this same time. Each planet detected the other’s signals and both civilizations experienced first contact with intelligent alien life.

 

Using recently-harnessed wormholes, we were able to send and receive messages with our new friends from planet “Darth.” We discovered common interests as each world had just experienced huge intelligence advances and both had recently transformed their species into non-biological beings. It became obvious that cooperation would yield benefits; thus Earth and Darth were first to join what history would one day refer to as “The Federation.”

 

The first physical meeting with Darthenians took place in 2100. Each planet launched fusion-powered ships in 2090, with five citizens aboard, to rendezvous halfway. Nanobots morphed bodies into images attractive to both species.

 

Although the meeting place was 2.5 light years away, wormhole communications, developed from collaboration between the two worlds, allowed transmitting live pictures of the event without delay to enthusiastic populations.

 

From 2100 to 2150, combined searches by Earth and Darth discovered many new life forms, but none that warranted visits.

 

In 2090, humanity achieved Type I Civilization status, able to capture all planetary energy and eliminate violent storms and earthquakes. And in 2160, while nearing Type II Civilization status, scientists began constructing the “Dyson Sphere,” a concept proposed by astronomer Freeman Dyson as a way to access our entire star’s energy. Nano-replicators created special tiles, and space faring nanobots arranged them to encompass both the Earth and sun.

 

Completed in 2180, the Dyson Sphere captures all of our star’s energy, filters out harmful space material by changing its atomic structure, and provides 252 quadrillion square miles of habitable space inside the sphere for colonization.

 

Type II Civilizations can also create anti-matter drive systems that allow faster-than-light travel. Many now dream of achieving Type III status when understanding superstring theory will help harness “dark energy” allowing travel, not only to parallel universes, but also to different times.

 

Will the future unfold like this? Positive futurists believe it’s possible. If people become enthused with these bold scenarios, our “magical future” could become reality in this timeframe. However, a more important question is, will this writer still be alive to celebrate his 270th birthday in 2200? If life extension gurus have their way, I have a shot at it. Comments welcome.

 

This article, written 06/23/2009 will appear in various print media and blogs; comments welcome. See other published work by Dick at http://www.positivefuturist.com; click the “published work” tab.

[Tormod]

For the record - do you have the author's right to republish this content? It seems to be copyrighted.

[Moontanman]

I am reminded of futurist writings from 50 years ago. They were usually very inaccurate in their predictions but looking back the things that we in the now of their future take for granted were really beyond the imaginings of even 50 years ago. 100 years ago who would have predicted nuclear power, space travel, personal computers, cell phones, organ transplants, lasers, and many other things we take so much for granted we forget that not many decades ago they were not even on the far distance radar of futurists then. I have no doubt that there are things in research and development now that will be world changing to the now of 100 years in the future. Possibly we will be more accurate in our predictions but I think things 100 years from now will be much different than we can imagine.

[futuretalk]

Tormod, I am the author and it is not copywrited. I write an article each week and my column appears in several western U.S. newspapers. To date, I have written 287 articles and I welcome fiction writers to become inspired and use anything they see in my work to enhance their stories.

 

I am a futurist and believe that all information should be free and available for anyone to use.

 

Most of my articles are more serious and do not cover such a far future, but occasionally I do dip into the centuries ahead. Earth 12000 was furthest I have reached into the future; that’s 10 millennia in advance.

 

I have a Twitter following @positivefuturis and you can visit my website to see all of my writings: Positive Futurist Blog >> Home.

 

Thank you, Dick Pelletier

[UncleAl]

Baby Boomers retire by 2015. There is no Social Security Fund - embezzled twice over by the Feds as Federal paper loans. The Ponzi scheme collapses when 60 million Boomers stop paying in and instead say "Gimme, SS and Medicare" to the tune of $3 trillion/year. The US is $60 trillion in debt with a GNP of $14 trillion/year. Petroleum will be long gone by 2050. Ignore fuels - no petrochemistry to synthesize plastics, pharma, everything.

 

President Johnson's Great Society in 1965 assumed the poor and stupid could be integrated into society by shearing then flensing the productive. The poor were given money without limit. The stupid no longer suffered under standards of excellence excluding them. THE FUTURE IS HERE! Everything and everyone are impoverished. Everything and everyone are managed by the stupid.

 

There is no future. AD 476 ws a cakewalk compared to what is coming. The fourth largest economy on the planet is California. 01 July kickoff for State of California bankruptcy. CA treasury is nothing but gas fill 01 August even by the most optimistic projections,

 

California State Controller's Office : Press Releases

 

The 22nd century will be God's dominion of poverty, hunger, disease, filth, death, and silk-clad priests with whips. Wild tales of cities, supermarkets, and procelain flush toilets will enthrall the young and embitter adults toward the end of their 40-year lifespans. Bathrooms are coming!

[Hasanuddin]

Are these fanciful and fictional musings really appropriate for "astronomy and cosmology." Is there a science-fiction or "what-if" board? I don't see how any of the rules governing burned of proof could apply to chimera like these.

[maddog]

What will life be like in the 22nd century? Of course, no one can predict the future that far ahead with 100% accuracy, but by tracking expected technology breakthroughs and adding a dash of imagination, we can create a plausible scenario of how life could unfold in the 2100s.

Like Hasnuddin said: this thread is more suited to another forum than Astronomy & Cosmology,

say something like "Futurism".

This article, written 06/23/2009 will appear in various print media and blogs; comments welcome. See other published work by Dick at http://www.positivefuturist.com; click the “published work” tab.

Your link had a "semicolon" as part of the link and thus wasn't reachable. I have corrected it below.

 

http://www.positivefuturist.com

 

I love Science Fiction. As fiction it potentially sounds great, lacks a story though. As

Futurism, you are on shakey ground. Like others have said, most of what is predicted never happens. Likewise, nobody even comes close to predicting what actually ends up happening.

 

Like you I am positive, though it is hard for me to view much past the next twenty

years. Something like the merging of Nanotechnology with Semiconductor fabrication

and possibly Medicine.

 

Tomord, ya ought to create a Futurist (you pick the name) for topics like these. This

would Not be the same as Strange Claims that you already have.

 

maddog

[Tormod]

Considering that this already is blog content, maybe it would be better to post it in our blog section. Or perhaps we need a section on writing? Futurism seems to me a pretty fictional concept.

[maddog]

Considering that this already is blog content, maybe it would be better to post it in our blog section. Or perhaps we need a section on writing? Futurism seems to me a pretty fictional concept.

Tormod,

 

My point entirely. Though Futurism typically falls short of fiction per se. It is concocted

totally without evidence and little trend analysis. I would just like to know where to find

it as I can speculate as where technology will take us in the next 20-50 years (even consider

worst case scenarios). I gave up on total positivism back during the Reagan years. :surprise:

 

maddog

[freeztar]

As far as I can remember, this is the only thread we've had that is solely dedicated to futurism so it seems a bit silly to make a whole forum for it. Yet, I agree that it doesn't belong in Astronomy, so I'm moving it to the Watercooler.