Anthology Project
Shanna Leigh Tracy
The future might seem scary to think about. From driverless cars, robots walking among us, human enhancements, even the thought and option to be able to freeze yourself and be woken up years from now. Head transplants, or uploading your brain/memory to a computer, parents being able to edit their babies genes, and also the creation of state of the art prosthetics. The possibilities are endless when it comes to the future, specially with how far technology has come.
In the article “More than 70% of US fears robots taking over cars” 70% of people have expressed their concern over robots taking over human tasks. (Solon, 2017) At least I’m not the only one who feels this way. People are worried that machines are going to take over their jobs and they won’t be needed anymore, which is totally understandable because if the machines take over then how will we make a living? That and having a computer drive us around and be in charge of our safety scares us. It’s hard to understand how a driverless car would be safe.
One of the biggest techno panics is the time cars become driverless. The inventors say that driverless cars will be safer, since some humans are distracted, drunk, or falling asleep at the wheel. (Slolon, 2017) But the public still isn’t convinced and either am I. It sounds dangerous and unsafe.
Now let’s talk about freezing your body, or in other words Cryonics! Which is an option for an attempt to preserve your body. “Suspended animation” however could be possible for more shorter time periods. Suspended animation is a concept used to explain how to help people in trauma. It’s the process in which animals deanimate, appear dead, and then wake up again appearing to be unharmed. (Roth, 2010) In other words, it’s like shutting down the body and then restarting it again. They have found that hydrogen sulfide decreases damages you could recieve when you are exposed to a leathly low amount of oxygen. So when they give you the hydrogen sulfide it can lower the oxygen level in your body to stop any further damage in your body. (Roth, 2010)
It’s kind of neat, yet scary how you can freeze your body in hopes to live again one day in the distant future. It’s scary because how will you know you will even wake up? What will the world even be like? To me personally I wouldn’t do it. It would be like waking up and not knowing anything, it would be a whole new world and you more than likely wouldn’t know anyone and it would probably be a totally different lifestyle. On the other hand I wouldn’t mind at all to have hydrogen sulfide help me if ever I was in trauma. I find that more beneficial than Cryonics, to me cryonics is like a 5% success rate, but then again I’m not a scientist and maybe there is more than one life to live?
The bionic body is also showing advancements in the field of prosthetics. In addition to prosthetic limbs, which are more versatile and user-friendly, researchers have developed functioning prototypes of artificial organs that can take the place of one’s spleen, pancreas or lungs. And an experimental implant that wires the brain to a computer holds the promise of giving quadriplegics control over artificial limbs. (Brumfiel, 2013)
With The Internet of Things (IoT) also on the rise we will soon see a change in the way we also shop and go about our everyday life. IoT offers us many opportunities to be more efficient with how we do things, from saving time and money.
When it comes to genetically modify ourselves or even our children, do we also have an ethical responsibility? In the future it might be something people will be doing all over the world. Since we have limitations in terms of aging, cognitive, various physical limitations, and of course moral limitations, science offers us the opportunity to overcome these limitations. Not only genetically modifying ourselves but physically enhancing our bodies as well. Bioart which is art using live human and animal tissue, bacteria and living organisms for materials. The bionic body is also showing advancements in the field of prosthetics. In addition to prosthetic limbs, which are more versatile and user-friendly, researchers have developed functioning prototypes of artificial organs that can take the place of one’s spleen, pancreas or lungs. And an experimental implant that wires the brain to a computer holds the promise of giving quadriplegics control over artificial limbs.
Thinking about the future and taking a step back and realizing how so much has changed over the years it doesn’t make me feel as nervous for my own future. Head transplant, driverless car, and robots living among us honestly doesn’t seem too far fetched. We have come such a long way that we can only go further. The past 50 years and even 20 years we have seen so much, it really makes me start to wonder what the next 20 or 50 years will bring. A real eye opener that technology is constantly evolving. Nothing to scary has happened yet.
What technology honestly has to offer we are really only seeing the start of it. Looking at the timeline of inventions over the years we are obviously coming a long way technology wise especially with computers, and robots. Eventually the time will come when we will have driverless cars out there and robots walking around, even working! History’s greatest technopancis ranged from writing, books, newspapers, the light bulb, and the telephone which may seem silly now but it also shows us that maybe driverless cars wouldn’t be so scary after all. (BBC, 2016) But like I said above, technology has come so far. How far can we go without going to far? Driverless cars do not seem as simple as having books, newspapers, and even the telephone. But then again back in the day people probably thought the same thing. Therefore looking at what the future has to offer I think we will benefit greatly.
References
http://www.ted.com/talks/mark_roth_suspended_animation_#t-11341b
https://gizmodo.com/why-freezing-yourself-is-a-terrible-way-to-achieve-immo-1552142674
http://waitbutwhy.com/2016/03/cryonics.html
https://ideas.ted.com/the-ethics-of-genetically-enhanced-monkey-slaves/
https://slate.com/technology/2015/02/stelarc-and-other-contemporary-artists-experiment-with-science.html
https://www.wired.com/2011/07/bioart/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/the-insane-and-exciting-future-of-the-bionic-body-918868/
(18 May 2014). WORLD OF TECH-12 TECHNOLOGIES THAT SCARED THE WORLD SENSELESS.
Retrieved from https://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/12-technologies-that-scared-the-world-sensless-1249053
(25 July 2016). BBC NEWS FUTURE-HISTORY’S GREATEST TECHNO PANICS. Retrieved from
www.bbc.com/future/story/201607001-historys-greatest-technopanics
(04 October 2017). THE GUARDIAN- MORE THAN 70% OF US FEARS ROBOTS TAKING OVER CARS.
Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/04/robots-artificial-intelligence-machines-us-survey