Human’s future evolution according to science fiction
Future Evolutionary Progression:
- Biological (Current)
- Part Biological, part Robot – Cyborg
- Permanently part of virtual reality – live “Plugged” into the internet (With an interface to external reality?)
- Pure Energy
I just finished reading 2001: A Space Odyssey, another book that astounded me and gave another perspective for viewing life.
In this book Stanley Kubrick details how his alien race advanced, and I have given the gist in the list above. Also many physicists (Michio Kaku) and technologists agree that this is what is likely to happen to all intelligent life as it advances.
Most people can imagine cyborgs or a future where we have mechanical replacements for body parts. It isn’t too much harder to imagine our brain controlling things other than humanoid equipment, in Space Odyssey it is suggested that the alien’s bodies were actually the spaceships they used to traverse the universe (Seen as the “graveyard” of ships after the aliens had advanced beyond physical bodies).
It’s harder to imagine a point where we replace our brains though, we would keep our memories and personality (and soul?) and simply upload these to a virtual reality where we live permanently as an virtual avatar or something. Possibly controlling drones to interact with the external environment, but in this case virtual reality would be as real as the external reality.
Finally it is suggested that the protagonist is transformed into a “starchild” where his pure life energy is freed from its physical container (Space Oddysey reckons the energy would emit light) and he gains full control over everything (Space, Matter, Time, etc).
The book suggests that these starchilds have control over time (He travels back to watch the big bang) but I would assume that he not only can go back and forward through time, but also sideways (If the world splits at a flip of a coin, one world for heads, one world for tails, being able to travel sideways in time would mean being able to choose what world you are in and therefore whether it lands on heads or tails).
Pretty much he can go to any time and understand what subtle changes will cause what, giving him the ability to control the outcome of anything (Like a baseball game).
Kubrick plus anyone who believes in transhuman evolution (Yours truly) think that this is the final step for intellectual beings. Where everyone is an omnipotent god.
Strikee 