Random Thought: Singularity, the path to true Freedom
Death is the accelerator to the conscious development of a mortal being that not only perpetuates evolution through re-birth, but is also aware of its biological restrictions (1). The moment of singularity, when we become immortal, evolution becomes redundant and thus the acceleration will simply dissipate, as it too becomes meaningless. We will develop godlike abilities from thereon, but there will be no sense of urge anymore; so too, any competition (2) looses validity. With access to all knowledge instantly and the ability to reshape ourself, there is plenty room to evolve at will. True Freedom.
(1) There are several species on this planet that are undoubtedly self-aware. Cetaceans, most apes, probably some monkeys, elephants apparently, and even crows show signs. But the level and distinction of how that self-awareness works is subject to speculation. It is very unlikely that a dolphin considers the boundaries of water as something transcend-able. Gorillas show no sign of artistic culture, without human influence, but can adapt one if exposed to one (Sign language speaking Gorilla Amy did like to paint and treated her paintings like a 5-6 child would, which is expressive, meaningful and foremost scene capturing, which is that first intention of art - capture/express an experience). Humans seem to be the only animals that have the urge to overcome death, mainly by leaving impressions behind that mark their presence in history. Being aware of a degrading, failing and passing biological form, instigates the urge to expand on this form. Technology is nothing but the external extension and transcendence of our biological limitation.
(2) Competition is inherently tied to biological evolution, in which the upper hand gives control over it. Whereas in a culture of unending surplus and equal opportunities(3) this is no longer necessary and a waste of resources.
(3) It is very likely that soon, the only resource that really matters is energy and there is plenty of that around. We need to expand beyond our planet sooner than we might think and as soon as we do, we expand our habitat million-fold. It is already estimated that the mining of nearby asteroids will be the cheapest form ever to extract raw materials. Simply by the amount available out there. The revenue will outweigh all the costs - and we have not even started building this kind of multi-trillion space mining infrastructure - many many times and still make raw materials cheaper than ever before. And we only really depend on few materials that are of limited supply or unrecyclable on this planet; most of which will be harvested, as mentioned above, pretty soon. Most materials we need, we can substitute with others or create through artificial means. There are several exceptions to this generalization, one of which we might solve when we start to mine a little bit deeper in our solar system, collecting from our gassy giant neighbors.
Helium 3. It is really scarce, but also very important from a technological standpoint, as it would probably make a great non-radioactive isotope for fusion power (It'll probably end up in spaceships that can harvest helium in gas giants as the mass needed for fusion is considerable high). And while there is plentiful of this compounds in the universe, it is not so on earth. Most of the Helium 3 has depleted over time into space, whisked away by light solar winds. There is one material however, we'll probably not find anywhere else in a 5 light year radius. Dinosaur and plant mush, or as we call it affectionless: Crude Oil. Since we inhabit the, very likely, only planet that has several layers of compressed bio-matter (it is a sort of a bio-battery, a storage for solar energy), the reserves we have is all we will have of this stuff for a very long time. Oil is basically a mix of difference hydrogen-carbon combinations, many with different and unique characteristics, which is why they are so elemental to science. Burning it, seems like burning irreplaceable masterpieces from the Louvre for a 4th of July Hillbilly BBQ. Granted, hydrocarbons are simple and we are starting to learn to recreate most of them artificially. But for many compounds this means more energy in than you'd get out. Maybe then oil will be as expensive as it should be - too expensive to burn.
But technological development shows that we will soon be able to artificially create and recycle any substance, the only valid resource will be energy and that too is a barrier we soon will overcome.