I don't know what's going to happen, but tangentially, Iavas, if you're interested in one author's view of how Mars will be colonised and the rich get a treatment to ensure virtual immortality, check out Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars / Green Mars / Blue Mars trilogy. The best SF I've read in years.
Thanks! Sounds interesting.
I have also read a great sci-fi book about a colony on Mars called
Solis.
Maria, thanks for the quote, that's interesting. Though slightly scary that a crisis period is coming up!
In terms of the human race itself and humans as a species, I think we will become more fragile as time goes on. Natural selection is not taking place since we effectively control our environment rather than the other way around, and medicines keep the weaker genes in the gene pool.
Also, as more and more hard labor becomes automated and done by machines and labor-saving devices abound, our metabolisms and hearts become weaker.
I'm not saying that's wrong, but as a species we will become ever more dependent on our inventions and any evolution that takes place may not necessarily be in the "right direction", whatever that means.
You are probably right, although I would say there is still a general trend that those with better immune systems are more likely to reproduce. I remember reading that humans are evolving fairly fast in terms of height and body shape. Men are taller and women have different curves than 100 years ago, or something like that. So we might look significantly different in a million years time.
I once had a book called "The History of the next millennium" (at least, I think that's what it was called) that speculated about the inventions and major events that might take place in the next 1000 years. It was pretty far fetched, though, and I'm not sure what they were basing their speculations on.
That's a book I would be very interested to read.
Talking of books about the next 1000 years, did you ever get to read Attanasio's "Centuries"? I'm really missing my collection of Attanasio books which is back in the UK.
My biggest question is whether humans will ever transcend their self-destructive tendencies. Will we one day reach that elusive "peace", will we wipe ourselves out in a nuclear war, or will we just go on the way we have been until something in nature finally destroys us?
My gut feeling is that there will
always be trouble going on in some part of the world. I don't think "world peace" will ever be possible. The problem in the future will be that as technology improves, destructive technology will become easier to produce and more likely to fall into the wrong hands. We can see already the danger of unfriendly nations trying to develop nuclear weapons. Sadly, I think nuclear weapons will be used again at some point in the future, probably by a power-hungry dictator somewhere. The trouble is, nations will always have a desire to advance their power and influence in the world standings.
My second biggest question is: will we ever find out if we're alone in the Universe
We're probably not alone, but it's unlikely we'll ever be able to make contact with an alien race. We might learn of their existence, but communication would be virtually impossible due to the distances involved.
I think what most blows my mind about the future is that this species that has come to completely dominate the planet can't go on forever. It's amazing to think that human intelligence, art, everything we've achieved, is ultimately doomed. In this era, it seems that humans are unstoppable - that they have the intelligence and technology to endure anything. But there will be an end - and I can't really fathom what it will be like for those that are there at the end.
Here's an interesting question. If you were offered the chance to live in the distant future (say 100,000 years from now), would you take it? Remembering that you could get there and find the planet totally ravaged. At the time we live now, atleast we are gauranteed to see the beauty of nature - in 100,000 years that might be gone.
I often ask myself, "Is this the period of history you would most like to live through?"