THE NEXT 100

So I was contemplating recently what the next 100 years will look like for humanity. More importantly what it will look like for my children and eventually their children. As I run on borrowed time it has become ever more important for me to try and figure out what the next 100 years might look like. Now, you might be saying to yourselves. Who cares! I won' t be around. Well your probably right. However i am pretty sure you know plenty of people who are 20 years old and younger including many in your own family. Given the advances in medicine, nutrition and general conditioning it is not unlikely that many of those you know will be around in the next 100years. In your case, if you are in the 30 to 40 range, you will most probably just be a photo on someones wall, if your fortunate. So what will the next 100 years look like? What will mankind have invented? What will be the status of our world? All good questions, especially given that man now has the capability to double its technology every year. So? Well if you imagine that we went from 1913 when there was; no television, computers, pop up toaster, microwave oven, x-ray (improved), Pyrex, radar, Insulin, Jet engine, helicopter, automated teller machines, fiberglass, digital clocks, snowmobiles, video games, mobile phones, tablets, DNA, DVD, Wi-Fi to today; then you can begin to imagine the possibilities.

So what will it look like? What will be the next great inventions? Well ,given that I am not that intelligent I decided to explore (in my own mind) what things might look like. So i have broken it down into the two questions I asked earlier. 1. What will mankind have invented? 2. What will the status of our world be?  So lets have a look from a simpletons perspective.

1. WHAT WILL MANKIND HAVE INVENTED?

A) In your brain Communication; devices incorporated into the human body. Hey who has time to talk, text and send e-mail while driving? Its illegal anyways so what if the device was installed into your body and allowed you to simply execute those tasks while doing everything your busy, busy schedule demands.
B) In the Game; Real person video games. Yup! Forget about 1st and second person shooter games. Yes Sir, in the future you will actually be in the game. Yup 3 dimensional and all (can you say holodeck?) Do not worry though, when you get killed you will still spring right back to life. Just like the NRA wants you to believe. Yes indeed you will even be able to invite your friends into your game so you can kill them. This should reduce significantly the homicide rate across North America.
C) NanoTechnology, Nano's that can build a bridge to the moon. Think I'm joking? I am not. This technology will be to mankind  in the 21st century what the micro chip was to the 20th century. These little microscopic robots will do anything on command. They will be performing delicate surgeries, fixing defective man made machines going into damaged reactors, doing tasks to difficult or dangerous for Men and Women.
D) Robots; no not the type GM uses to build cars. The butler type, the at your home type, the scare the crap out of you from the movie. '' I robot'' type. Yes we are not that far away from the moment where mankind relegates the unwanted or undesirable tasks to a robot.
E) Plane to anywhere; a ticket to the moon please. No doubt within the next 100 years man will travel regularly to the moon on board spacecraft designed to take you outside our atmosphere. ET Phone home! Or just drop by the moon.
F) We are not alone; while this is not an invention it will be a ground mover for mankind and will lead to many, many new innovations driven by our unrelenting desire to find answers and to more importantly, NEVER be alone! I will talk more about this in the, ''What will be the status of our world'' section.
G) Time travel: Just joking! Might happen one day just not the next 100 years.
H) Transport off the ground; It is only a matter of time before we figure out that trying to build infrastructure to support 4 wheel rubber tire vehicles is a serious, serious waste of time and Money. The next major human innovation will be in the form of self contained aerial transport vehicles. You see if you can fly, no traffic jam, you can get a hell of alot more done in a day. Plus haven't you had just about enough of the airport anyways? Fly down south in your own transporter.
I) Mars anyone; mankind will get to Mars. Believe it! Propulsion technology will make this possible.
J) Medicine; we will invent a cure for a great deal of what currently ails us. If we can pop a pill and get an erection, how far can we be from curing that case of facial acne, or that cold sore, or just about everything mankind currently considers a detriment to its well being; by simply popping a pill. Hell they will even invent a '' Straight pill'' which will turn all homosexuals straight ( all the conservatives reading this just wet themselves) hey nimrods it can't be cured becuase its not a disease, nor a choice....its genetic! More seriously, mankind will find a way to repair a severed spine and give power back to a set of paralyzed legs. The field of bionics (yes the 6 million dollar man kind) will help amputees live a normal life with very little challenge as a result of their missing limb. Unfortunately mankind will still struggle to find the cures for the common cold, cancer, heart disease, HIV. The positive. We will close in on these over the next 100 years.

2. WHAT WILL THE STATUS OF THE WORLD BE?

As the eternal optimist that I am, I would like to think we will have fixed our greatest challenges, wars, religious disparity, diseases, climate change, dependency on currency, hunger, etc....but lets face facts. Minus a world changer ( epic natural disaster, epidemic or alien invasion) chances are humanity will still be struggling with all of the above. The reality is, that no matter our technological advances we still fall terribly short in improving the quality of life for all human beings ( no not just the guy down the street) all over the world. We will still continue to war against each other, use financial power to grow richer and make others poorer. We will continue to value profits and our bank accounts over quality of life & environment. We will continue to fall short in all areas that should really matter. Is it that bad? Perhaps. There is a bright side however.

1) We are not alone; when this is finally confirmed things will change dramatically. The majority (though not by much) prescribe to a principle that someone (generally viewed as God) created man and woman and everything else on this planet. When irrefutable proof is presented that the universe does contain other life and it did not come fro God, Well! A great deal of searching will be done by mankind. Then we will go to all lengths to contact them. Perhaps not so advisable (if you listen to Hawking's, which you should, the guys a bloody genius) as they might see us as nothing more then we see ants ( you know a pest)...or cows (you know food). Nonwithstanding this we will relent. This will distract mankind while at the same time focus us on a common goal. Of course the conservatives and the evangelicals will be opposed, but HELL they are opposed to everything progressive (and in this particular case they might be onto something).
2) Shared wealth; regardless of our obsession with wealth and power it will soon become very clear that we must, if we want to survive as a humanity, share our wealth. You will see efforts made to improve dramatically the quality of life for people currently living in third world countries. Our advances in technology will help facilitate this.
3) Natural disasters; impressed lately by what you have seen from mother nature? No! Well stick around, it is going to get ugly.
4) Epidemic; notice i did not say pandemic? Well that's because unfortunately mankind is going to inadvertently let loose or create a super bug which will decimate the planet or more importantly mankind. In the next 100 years.? I wouldn't bet against it.
5) War; they will continue. The greatest danger will come from one of the rogue nations whose leadership has nothing to lose. Nuclear capability in the wrong hands is like giving a pornographic magazine to a teen age boy....the outcome is a foregone conclusion. Also do not underestimate old foes (Russia) and of course the Chinese.
6) Environment; well Al Gore is busy eating his way through the green house effect so that leaves the environment in the hands of the few who care and the many who stand to gain from doing nothing or very little. Other then of course window dressing. Fossil fuels will not run out in the next 100 years so mankind will continue to burn them. Specific technological innovations will help reduce the foot print. Unfortunately it will do little to remove the shoe which is left behind.

Well there it is. Predictions from a simpleton. I am sure you have your own predictions. So feel free to share them with me. I might write another update to these lists. Oh and if your over 40 and have not picked out your cemetery plot yet. Grab the phone because nothing on this list will get you those additional 100 years you might be hoping for.

Rob