Technologies That Will Reshape Our Lives In 2018: Part I
The Next Step In Human Evolution or Feeding Hungry Ghosts In A Giant Machine?
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Seek out some retired and old-world spot, far from the madding crowd, and dream away a sunny week among its drowsy lanes — some half-forgotten nook, hidden away by the fairies, out of reach of the noisy world — some quaint-perched eyrie on the cliffs of Time, from whence the surging waves of the nineteenth century would sound far-off and faint. — Jerome K Jerome, Three Men In A Boat
This article is a first in a three part mini-series designed to give readers an overview as well as a glimpse of the new technologies that will reshape human lives as I write. This mini-series will explore a wide range of technologies from Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Internet, Cryptographic Coins, Automated and Electric Vehicles, Elon Musk’s efforts to create cyborgs and the smart home of the future.
I would characterize 2018 as the year that many technologies mature, move out of childhood right into their teens. The question of which ones will survive the test of time is a larger discussion.
Technology has eaten the world and is eating it again. The mind boggling array of technology released and under development is unprecedented in human history. All round technological disruption has also become the single biggest, global experiment in the unknown. A rebellion without a completely understood cause. By extension, a future beyond our imagination. Fascinating as it is, this disruption also induces fear.
We seem to have a bewildering need to understand the world. But then again, I often wonder: is there such as need at all? I am not sure.
All of us seem to be smitten with technologies that are augmenting a reality we are unsure needs augmenting. Think of simple things such as Pokémon Go. I remember a time when many people would be dodging accidents on the road because their eyes were glued to finding the next Pokémon. At coffee shops, I…
