The Unimaginable Future of Technology

The philosophical futurologist's perspective is that the rate of change for our technology has outpaced anything we could predict in the future.

In the past, the Greeks understood the very basics of chemistry, yet it took 5,000 years after that to develop the basic models of chemistry we now understand. In contrast, with our modern advancements, it took only 70 years from the invention of man-made flight to send humans to the moon and back.

Futurology skeptics who believe advancement is coming to an end do not consider the progress we are not yet able to understand.

DaVinci and Galileo may have contributed hugely to technological advancement in their times, but even they could not comprehend the future of today. Computing power could radically be improved through the invention of a quantum computer, and power generation could still face improvement.

The industrial revolution sparked new and philosophical theories from people like Karl Marx, who tried to seek meaning in a new industrial-labor world. These philosophical revolutions may become more common as technology advances into the unimaginable.

With robotics and artificial intelligence, we may be required to accurately consider what makes us human. Massive industrialization will leave people without work, which leaves humans to consider what they ought to do with themselves.