Books: Michio Kaku - Physics of the Future - Computers

I recently saw that there are more books of this type 'How will the world be in the future'. What I like about this one is the approach. The author interviewed more than 300 scientists to get the status quo and extrapolates into the future.

The books is divided into different technological topics (computer, medicine, wealth). It starts with an introduction about the history and current situation of that topic and then gives estimates about the future situation for the near future (present to 2030), midcentury (2030 to 2070) and far future (2070 to 2100).

I find the visions he give about the future of the computer very realistic, because a lot of these technologies are already in the making. I especially like the idea of augmented reality. This means that a lot of physical things are equipped with chips or marked in other ways and therefore glasses or lenses connected to the internet can read this information and present it to the wearer. It would make life so much easier in many ways:

If you want to know the way than this system can guide you. Looking for an Italian restaurant, than the system can check it out. Want to know if your health is okay then the system can read information from the chips in your clothing.

But as the information that can be gathered is so vast and also intimate sometimes, it is also dangerous. Because if we want this future to be great, it is also necessary that the spirit and the basic thinking of mankind changes. If this technology would exist widespread today, I wouldn't like it, because there are still to many people out there that would widely misuse it. 

Especially the idea of mind-reading and mind-controlled technology. The author himself points out that there are some ethical issues with that, but not really solves it. Maybe because it's to abstract for now if and how this technology will exist. It also poses some dangers, as our mind is more spontaneous than our body. Imagine you are mad at someone and just by thinking throwing a heavy object at him.

So, in conclusion, all these computational developments are very great and the world could be a lot easier, but it also requires a development of mankind itself. Because if not, all this could also turn out to be a horror movie.

To be continued...

 Karl-Ludwig G. Poggemann, "labyrinthine circuit board lines"; Some rights reserved. Quelle: www.piqs.de