Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Dream, Imagination, Possibility, Reality - Human and Science


Human beings are the most advanced species on this earth. We are the most dangerous species too. Since we are both advanced and dangerous we have been surviving on this earth for a very long time. We have travelled and developed from the primitive stage to the current stage of civilisation, science and technology. Where will we go from here? This is what is dealt with in the book "Homo Deus" by "Yuval Noah Harari" an Israeli Historian. I have not read the book. My husband has been reading it and whenever he finds something very interesting or compelling he reads it to me. It has kindled my curiosity and I can't wait to get my hands on the book. Not until he finishes it. So now my mind has started imagining the world in a different perspective.

One point the book says is the possibility of science finding ways to make "immortality" a reality. I and my husband discussed how would life be in that case? Would any of the things that we do make any sense in such a scenario? Even if we imagine that a human being will live up to 200 years young and healthy, the scenario seems bewildering. Would the education that we get during our schools be any time relevant after say 150 years? Would a marriage which is done in the 30s survive togetherness for a whopping 200 years? Wouldn't you get bored of your partner? And regarding children - if one is hale, healthy and fertile for 150 years, how many children will a woman deliver? What would be the kind of relationship parents and children share when parents are of 150 years and a kid is 20 years old? How would they even communicate effectively? With so many years guaranteed, what would be the kind things people will do in their lifetime? Would the aim of a middle class still be to own a car by 30 and a house by 40? What would they do for the rest of the, say, 150 years? What would the dreams be like for people?

When we were discussing, I had a doubt. Would the earth be able to support the population outburst? How would we feed the long living increasing population? what about the natural resources like water, fresh air? What about all the waste that we generate? With people living till 200 and producing dozens of children, the human population will kill this earth with its demands. What will happen to the earth? But we did find out a solution ourselves. When science will find a way to increase life period by maintaining youth and health, it will definitely find a way for people to survive without food and water. Maybe in such a time, the food we eat today will become irrelevant. And science will find ways for the body to stay hydrated without water. Since long life and youth cannot be achieved without regenerating cells, that kind of a development will definitely push development in the biology of our body and the way the human body works.

And about the waste generation, our imagination was that maybe the waste will be dumped on some other planet. Rockets might regularly be launched to dump waste into other planets. That way another planet would become our dump yard.  Or might be scientists will find out another planet for humans to move into. That way the earth can become a dump yard. Reminds me of the movie "Wall-E". Such a cinematic and fictional dream. But who knows these might become a reality after few hundred years. Science has made leaps and bounds in curing once fatal diseases. Science and technology have created robots who think and work like humans.  Science can create human embryo outside the human body. A baby with DNA from 3 parents has been born(Just now read the article) which has helped the boy escape a fatal disorder his mother suffers from which would otherwise have been transferred to the baby. Science is making advances faster than we can imagine. Hence all these fictional imaginations might very well become a reality in the future. I am sure these things might not happen in my lifetime but it might happen 2 generations down the line.

Oh! how I wish I could live to see such possibilities becoming realities. It would be great if normal people could open up their mind to these kinds of wonderful things happening around us and try to revel in the practical science. We can keep talking and clinging on to a bygone so called prosperous past getting us nowhere or we can walk towards the future of endless possibilities with open hands and enjoy the benefits. It is hypocrisy to want both in equal amounts.

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