Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100

happens when their people rise up against them. So today, the nightmare of
1984
is gone,with the Internet changing from an instrument of terror into an instrument of democracy.
    Out of the cacophony of debate emerges wisdom. But the surest way to enhance vigorous, democratic debate is through education, for only an educated electorate can make decisions on technologies that will determine the fate of our civilization. Ultimately, the people will decide for themselves how far to take this technology, and in what directions it should develop, but only an informed, educated electorate can make these decisions wisely.
    Unfortunately, many are woefully ignorant of the enormous challenges that face us in the future. How can we generate new industries to replace the old ones? How will we prepare young people for the job market of the future? How far should we push genetic engineering in humans? How can we revamp a decaying, dysfunctional educational system to meet the challenges of the future? How can we confront global warming and nuclear proliferation?
    The key to a democracy is an educated, informed electorate that can rationally and dispassionately discuss the issues of the day. The purpose of this book is to help start the debate that will determine how this century unfolds.
    FUTURE AS A FREIGHT TRAIN
    In summary, the future is ours to create. Nothing is written in stone. As Shakespeare wrote in
Julius Caesar,
“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves. …” Or, as Henry Ford once said, perhaps less eloquently, “ History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s damn is the history we make today.”
    So the future is like a huge freight train barreling down the tracks, headed our way. Behind this train is the sweat and toil of thousands of scientists who are inventing the future in their labs. You can hear the whistle of the train. It says: biotechnology, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and telecommunications. However, the reaction of some is to say, “I am too old. I can’t learn this stuff. I will just lie down and get run over by the train.” However, the reaction of the young, the energetic, and the ambitious is tosay, “Get me on that train! This train represents my future. It is my destiny. Get me in the driver’s seat.”
    Let us hope that the people of this century use the sword of science wisely and with compassion.
    But perhaps to better understand how we might live in a planetary civilization, it may be instructive to live out a day in the year 2100, to see how these technologies will affect our daily lives as well as our careers and our hopes and dreams.

From Aristotle to Thomas Aquinas, perfection meant wisdom rooted in experience and in the relationships by which the moral life is learned through example. Our perfection lies not in gene enhancement, but in the enhancement of character.
    —STEVEN POST

9 A DAY IN THE LIFE IN 2100
    JANUARY 1, 2100, 6:15 A.M.
    After a night of heavy partying on New Year’s Eve, you are sound asleep.
    Suddenly, your wall screen lights up. A friendly, familiar face appears on the screen. It’s Molly, the software program you bought recently. Molly announces cheerily, “John, wake up. You are needed at the office. In person. It’s important.”
    “Now wait a minute, Molly! You’ve got to be kidding,” you grumble. “It’s New Year’s Day, and I have a hangover. What could possibly be so important anyway?”
    Slowly you drag yourself out of bed and reluctantly head off to the bathroom. While washing your face, hundreds of hidden DNA and protein sensors in the mirror, toilet, and sink silently spring into action, analyzing the molecules you emit in your breath and bodily fluids, checking for the slightest hint of any disease at the molecular level.
    Leaving the bathroom, you wrap some wires around your head, which allow you to telepathically control your home: you mentally raise the temperature of the apartment, turn on some soothing music, tell the robotic cook in your kitchen to make breakfast and brew some coffee, and order your magnetic car to leave the garage and be ready to pick you up. As you enter the kitchen, you see the mechanical arms of the robotic cook preparing eggs just the way you like them.
    Then you put in your contact lenses and connect to the Internet. Blinking, you see the Internet as it shines onto the