What were the biggest challenges of the 20th century? Famine, Plague and War. Almost most of the human efforts across all countries were spent on tackling them. Indeed it was a big win for us. Now more people die of obesity than in famine, thanks to the economy reforms. The average life span of humans was under 50 years in 1900s and it is now projected to 75 years in 2025, thanks to the vaccinations and medical research and robust epidemics control methods. Nations are willing to negotiate with each other and deal with their differences than going to a war, thanks to globalization and nuclear bombs.
The question now is, what will be the biggest challenges of the 21st century? Immortality, Happiness and Divinity. How could we possibly say that humans will conquer them?
Immortality is not far from our realm of possibility. Humans have always been limited by our physical and cognitive abilities/ constraints, both are end products of million years of evolution. By re-engineering the whole body and controlling the full biological process, immortality will be achieved in 100 years.
Neuroscience says happiness is generated within. Deep inside, the brain cannot distinguish between a promotion or winning a lottery. We feel happy because of neurons fire in a certain pattern and the same applies when feel unhappy. By manipulating the bio-chemical reactions that cause happiness, we will have the recipe for ever lasting happiness in less than 100 years.
And Divinity? why do we need God when we are immortal and happy forever? Humans will be the new god!
What happens after humans assume insurmountable power? the rise of AI and biotechnology will lead to humans upgrading themselves with new capabilities to become super humans or a new species "Homo Deus". Liberalism, Capitalism (free market) and Democracy that coexisted and aided humans in achieving their ambitious goals in the 21st century will prove to be useless and disregarded. Dataism (power of data and information flow) will be the new religion. Homo Deus together with the super intelligent, non conscious algorithms will eventually spread out from earth and pervade the whole galaxy and even the whole universe!
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