FUTURE LIFE

TOMORROW'S ALMOST HERE

I recently saw a performance of the musical “Annie” in which my grandson, Eli, played one of the orphans. As they all sang “Tomorrow is Just a Day Away” I reflected on the science blogs I'd read that morning and realized they had given me a glimpse of our tomorrow. Indeed as I sit at my computer, talk on my cell phone, or press my hand against the pace maker in my chest I realized that tomorrow has already arrived.

Scientific advances are accelerating exponentially and give us a glimpse of a future more amazing than any we find in science fiction novels or films. Today I read of breaktroughs in solar panel technology and of hydrogen fueled cars. The brain science blogs reported on new ways to cure diseases and improve brain function. And I reread the account of the Google car which drove a thousand miles without a driver. As I tried to absorb the news I began to imagine the culture in which Eli and my other grandchildren will be living when they are my age.

First, of course, 80 years old will be the new 50 as the average life expectancy hovers around 110 and cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s have been brought under control. Their grand kids will learn mostly on-line and colleges will be free. The family will get into their non-gasoline powered car, tell it where they want to go, and relax and read as the car drives itself to their destination. If they are going to a political meeting the conversation will be vastly different than any I've ever experienced as the issues will have changed so profoundly.

First, of course, will be the impact of the change from the current white majority in the country to a brown, black, and yellow majority. That is sure going to alter the “immigrant invasion” ranting. And the end of oil importing will have turned now wealthy Middle-East nations into pockets of poverty. And the recently tested bombs that fly themselves will have made the Air Force an historical oddity.

This does not assure that my greatgrandkids will live in a world at peace, but even that is a real possibility. Wish I could stick around to enjoy the new world.