UTOPIA: An Excerpt from Science & Spirit Utopia is the concept of a perfect society, and is translated as “no place”. I find this a perfect definition, as there is no location that can be perfect, but is more a belief in the possibility of pursuing perfection. Perfection itself, ironically is undesirable. As a people we become bored with and unmotivated by achieving perfection, it is the pursuit that drives us. Even the concept of utopia differs from person to person. The two main constants within the philosophy of utopia are a peaceful society, and one in which people act in accordance to the golden rule. Treat others as you wish to be treated. Better yet, treat others as they wish to be treated. In my dream of the future, the entire planet has united into a single nation, there are no wars, people are encouraged to express themselves as unique individuals, everyone is treated as equals, with no economic class system, but with high respect given to scholars. A society where emphasis is given on finding happiness, on ethics and morality, on being able to adapt to changing times by avoiding concrete detail the laws. Where teachings of love, kindness, are basic fundamentals, and where drug use, when used responsibly, is encouraged as an instrument of exploring oneself, ones spirituality, and place in the universe. This is the type of society I hope to build, for myself, for our children. Uniting the planet as a single people is the most fundamental characteristic of successful society. A world with no wars means no meaningless loss of life, no wasted resources spend on wars, and an ability to pool global resource is on ending poverty, ending hunger, and space exploration. Of course there will still be conflicts, but nothing rising to become a notable army. To make this a certainty, all nations joining the global society will be required to transfer all military under global command. This global army will serve to keep the peace in cases of conflict, but will primarily serve to help in humanitarian aid, building shelters, delivering food, medical supplies, water, and hope. To become a one world nation, it is important that the people, not the leaders, support the decision. Nations will be invited via pleblicite, voting over the Internet by all citizens. The smaller nations will join first, with a less to lose and more to gain, while larger and nations will express interest as the philosophy gains traction. The largest nations will need additional incentive to join. Once a majority of Nations have joined, and the United army powerful enough, use of force maybe can be threatened, however would serve primarily as a bluff, as violence and involvement of innocence would decrease faith in the global society. Once enough key geographic nations join, existing in national boundaries will be redrawn, to create a new source sense of globalism. It is important that during the transition into a global society, globalism takes precedence over former nationalism. Symbols are very important to us, and in cases of transition such as it is, must be replaced. The states that will make up the new society will be redrawn. This will not only be to encourage globalism, but also to begin the mixing of cultures, and take into account environmental factors, such as watershed divisions, oceans, and other natural boundaries. Cultures will be more encouraged to join, interact, and learn from each other. Although there will always be minor variations, I hope with this we may evolve a single global culture, part of assault, and speak a single global language. With a decrease in loss of life from wars, disease, and hunger, the global population will begin to rise exponentially. Potential restrictions on birth rate, although not desired, may be required, particularly in dense areas. After pooling the global resources, the next most important priority, aside from education and poverty, is space exploration, and expansionism. We will begin by perfecting the art of creating exoplanetary habitats, first in the deserts, then underwater, in the Antarctic, an open space, on the moon, and on Mars. Each step of growing more hostile environment, but as we move forward, each creating lovable habitats that may double as housing for a growing population. Decreasing the burden on earth, and increasing the longevity of our species. Our planet is akin to a tiny oasis in a vast expanse of galactic desert. If we do not explore into the stars, our species may only live as long as our planet remains stable. Populating our neighbors, our moon, Mars, and perhaps even the moons of our gas giants will improve our chances of surviving the destruction of our planet, but will still leave us vulnerable to any instability within our solar system. It is important that we find a way to push beyond our solar limitations, develop the ability to travel faster than the speed of light, and learn to populate the galaxy. Imagine a galactic civilization scaled up from the global version we see today. Its hard to say where technology will bring us. There is a point in our technological development to which we cannot predict beyond, referred to as a singularity. It refers to the point at which are technology, and perhaps capabilities of artificial intelligence, progress to become greater than human intelligence. Thus by definition will be reached up on creating a technology not able to be developed or conceived by a human mind. Whereas the human mind has not arguably increased in basic intelligence for millennia, the capabilities of improvements in computers double for every X number of months, 14 to 40. The expectation is that the capabilities of computers will surpass human capabilities by the year 2050. However, our human capacities may be improved as well. The development of robotics will advance into the future, not only in computing ability, but for industrial use as well. Robots will be developed to replace most menial labor, decreasing employment in industry, but free the human population to invest in more creative career paths. There will be no risk of economic collapse provided that profit restrictions are placed on robotic labor. Rise in unemployment can also be averted by cutting hours in existing non robotic careers. Poverty increase caused via cut hours will be avoided hours in that with menial labor provided by robots at low expensive, and with profit restrictions placed on such robotic companies, existing wealth will be distributed to other fields, provided the concept of money will be as it is today. As computing ability exceeds mental capacity, the risk of growing obsolete from the perspective of robots becomes more apparent. This will become vital the moment a computer advances beyond our own capacity, and is able to develop a higher computer beyond its capacity. To prevent this, it is desired to incorporate Isaac Asimovs 3 laws of robotics. Number one, a robot may not harm a human, or through inaction, allow a human to come to harm. Number two, a robot must obey a command given by a human, unless it conflicts with rule number one. Rule number three, a robot must protect its own existence, unless such action conflicts with laws numbers one or two. These three laws prevent a rise of the machines, however our future may not be so inorganic. Artificial intelligence refers to a computers ability to exceed the human capacity, amplified intelligence refers to the concept of using computers to increase the human mental capacity, and may reference the possibility of developing an artificial brain, or cyberbrain. Through amplified intelligence, in addition to improvements in our own individual intelligence, we may also develop the ability for mind sharing, and allow for a mental Internet. This ability would allow others to share each other’s perspective, conceptualize how not so different we are, and strengthen the golden rule, treat others the way we hope to be treated, to strengthen peace. But it would also open the possibility to mentally computer faster by joining brain power, akin to a human super computer, the joining of computers to compute faster. Amplified intelligence may bring us to the technological singularity before or in place of artificial intelligence. The two fields of study which are expected to see the greatest leaps, space exploration aside, are advantages in nanotechnology, and energy production. Nanotechnology is the ability to create machines near the atomic level, on the scale of nanometers. A single nanometer, as compared to a standard meter, is equivalent to a marble, as compared to the planet Earth. Nanotechnology can open leaps in medicine, electronics, biomaterials, energy production, and space exploration. Nanobots are tiny robots that are able to build copies of themselves, as well as other products, from the surrounding materials. One application could be to send nanobots ahead of humans to exoplanets, to build habitats in advance. Using nanotechnology to create everyday possessions from scrap materials, such as waste, can create less of a dependence on a modern economy. Under the philosophy that currency is a method of transferring goods, services, and energy, and provided the energy crisis will be solved, services can be provided via robotics, and goods can be created from scrap materials, there will be a little to no purpose for currency, provided nanotechnology is available to everyone. Using it to create faster, smaller, more efficient micro processors will also improve computers and the speed and speed us toward the singularity. The adverse potential of nanotech, aside from the possibility of creating a doomsday device, is the potential impact on the environment, and the toxicity to organic creatures via inhaling or consuming nana particles, potentially causing organ, DNA, and chromosome damage. Solving the energy crisis, and removing our dependence on fossil fuels which are harming our environment, is of vital importance. Renewable energy sources such as bio fuels, hydropower, wind power, and in particular solar power, as well as harnessing the energy of the ionosphere, will bring significant advances, but will have limitations, particularly regarding interstellar travel. Fusion, harnessing the power of a star, will be a critical step in energy production. Fusion is the process of joining two atoms lighter than iron, generally hydrogen, by shooting them to accelerate fast enough to exceed the electrostatic force. The effect is the creation of a joint particle, which weighs less than the sum of its parts, with the loss of matter transforming into a tremendous release of energy. This form of energy differs from the nuclear reactors we utilize today, which rely on the simpler, and far more dangerous, process of fission. Fission differs from fusion in that the energy from fission is acquired by splitting a large atom to release energy. Fission reactors require large amounts of fuel, often uranium, and produce a large amount of radioactive waste which will take Millinia to decay. They often contain enough fuel to supply for many years, which is very dangerous. Should significant problem to occur, this will result in a runaway chain reaction, potentially generating a meltdown, where superheated fuel rods melt through storage containers and into the earth, resulting in a nuclear explosion, as seen in the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. Fusion is a far safer, although far more complex, alternative to fission with in nuclear reactors. As fusion requires a precisely controlled temperature, pressure, and magnetic field, with any change or fluctuation in these variables, the nuclear reaction and heat produced would decrease rapidly. As a result, the preciseness of a fusion reactor acts as its own fail safe. Another benefit is that the fuel source of fusion reactors, heavy hydrogen, hydrogen with a neutron, can be found in salt water, among other sources. And is only required in small amounts for reaction. The byproducts of a fusion reaction are helium, a harmless gas, and a radioactive gas produced in small quantities, which decays in less than a century. These advantages to fusion will also allow smaller reactors, perhaps sized down to a briefcase to power a neighborhood. The most promising method of achieving sustainable fusion reactor reaction at present is it by using high powered lasers to compress pelletized fuel source to the point of fusion. One disadvantage of this form of hot Fusion is that large amounts of heat produced make containing the reaction difficult, reaching temperature is over 100 million degrees centigrade. Cold fusion is a theoretical concept of a fusion reaction possible at room temperature is, but has not been proven possible. One major advantage to the potential small size and simple fuel source for fusion reactors is the ability to power spaceships. A fusion powered spaceship would be able to reach other star systems even at conventional speeds, and be able to look for additional fuel in interstellar space. A second advantage is that fusion reactors may be self sustaining, in that although energy is required to create a fusion reaction, the byproducts can be reused as fuel in the next reaction, over time creating more energy than fuel input energy required. Referencing initial fuel. Other forms of free energy, such as vacuum energy, or zero point energy, the concept of capturing in harnessing virtual particles that blink in and out of existence as particle antiparticle pairs with in a vacuum, quite literally harnessing energy from empty space.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 23:38:30 +0000
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