What Will Life Be Like in the Future?

What will life be like in the future?

• Many people today believe that we are living in a time in which time itself feels as though it’s speeding up.
• It’s also a time in which we might be able to dramatically increase the average lifespan and health-span beyond what was previously thought possible.

Though predicting the future is not an exact science, there are particular people who are highly skilled at making educated guesses. I met recently with Dan Finfer of Post Human Era to discuss the technological side of longevity.

A futurist reveals why humans have evolved to a point where they can impact their own evolutionary process, and describes what life in the future could be like.

In the first part of this article, I share what life will be like in the future for the world at large. However, in the second part, I reveal what future life can be like for you personally. So if that’s what interests you most, feel free to scroll down.

Designing the Human Life for Perfect Health

“At the dawn of life on this planet, evolutionary changes happened slowly. We’re talkin’ billions of years,” says Finfer.

Finfer explained to me that one microbe took billions of years to evolve the DNA necessary to replicate itself from simple amino acids. But that first copying mechanism, DNA, allowed information to be transmitted that much faster.

Speaking personally, I’m hopeful that our future includes an increased reverence for our physical environment and that as a planet we will find solutions to protect and nurture the earth’s natural beauty.

I’d also like us to find a way to solve many of the factors and symptoms of aging – many of which I believe to be unnecessary and curable.

Glimpse into the Future: Insights on Life in Tomorrow’s World

What will life be like in the future? This age-old question has captivated the human imagination for centuries.

As we stand on the cusp of a new era, it’s only natural to wonder how society, culture, and everyday life will evolve.

For some people, the mere thought of exploring the uncharted territories of tomorrow’s world is anxiety-producing. But even though rapid change can be irritating or scary, there are many positive possibilities, too.

1. Technological Ubiquity

The future promises an even deeper integration of technology into our lives.

Imagine a world where augmented reality is as commonplace as smartphones are today.

We’ll communicate, shop, work, and even socialize through these digital interfaces.

But what will this mean for human interaction?

Sociologists predict that while technology will bring convenience, it may also challenge our ability to connect meaningfully. The impact of this is probably already being felt.

2. Demographic Shifts

Demographics are in a constant state of flux. In the future, we anticipate significant changes in population dynamics.

The aging population will continue to grow, leading to new challenges in healthcare and retirement planning.

Meanwhile, migration patterns and cultural shifts will reshape the very fabric of societies, making diversity and inclusivity central themes in the years to come.

3. Environmental Consciousness

Environmental concerns will play an increasingly significant role in shaping our future.

With climate change at the forefront, sustainability will become more than just a buzzword.

Sociologists predict that eco-consciousness will transform our consumer habits, urban planning, and even our value systems. We’ll need to adapt to a world where protecting the environment is not just a choice but a necessity.

The Acceleration of Time Itself

“Evolution only took millions of years to create multi-cellular creatures. Good information was kept, and bad information was discarded,” explains Finfer.  “The wheel of time continued until evolution presented the planet Earth with a new species, human beings.”

According to Finfer, this is really where the evolutionary process of life really began to accelerate.

How Your Life Will Change in the Future

Instead of millions of years to the next paradigm shift, it was only 50,000 years until Man began to talk.

And then, only 10,000 to develop agriculture, written language, society, and government.

Another 5,000 elapsed, and we had constructed Pyramids, developed theological and monetary systems, and begun colonizing the planet.

This led to the development of science a few thousand years later.

“Science, after a few mere centuries, thus gave us the Industrial Revolution,” Finfer states, “which after only 50 years gave us the Computer Revolution. Notice the trend? Evolution is a feedback loop. The meaning of life is to speed up.”

“What Will My Life Be Like 20 Years from Now, and Beyond?”

My conversation with Finfer becomes even more lively. You can hear it in the short podcast below, by clicking on the play arrow. It’s quite scintillating!

We explore the current model of human progress (and how that’s about to change radically) and how people still aren’t grasping the exponential trends inherent in computer power. From there, things get outrageously nerdy, as we chat about:

• science fiction
• the Matrix
• television
• iPhones

• YouTube
• other futurists
• the singularity
• through the Worm Hole
• nanotechnology
• …and the shadow side of tech

We also talk about how to increase daily quality of life and how to extend the human lifespan, and how what we think of as “holistic health” is going to change significantly.

The Full Interview about Life in the Future

DANE: I’m Dane Findley and I like exploring the topic of life extension.

I’m here with Dan Finfer of Post Human Era. I like talking with Dan about longevity. Because while I’m more interested in the holistic side of things, like diet and exercise, Dan is really more fascinated by the technological side of things.

So I thought I would pick his brain about some of the recent events in technology, and specifically how they may or may not relate to longevity.

DANE: We were just chatting on the break and you were saying how living to be 100 now seems, in many ways, almost conservative.

FINFER: Well, the reason I say “conservative” to a 100-year estimate is that most people are going off the current model of human progress. And they don’t factor in that the trend of the progress we’ve been seeing is actually exponential growth.

That all basically stems down to Moore’s law. And Gordon Moore worked at Intel in the 60s, and he made this law that said, computer power is going to double every 18 months.

And basically, so far he has been right.

DANE: Here’s the thing, I totally believe what you just said. Because I see evidence of that every day. I’m gonna sound like a complete science fiction nerd, but I am one – so whatever. I recently watched this older show called Warehouse 13. In the show, the characters have this – you know it’s supposed to be super futuristic – video communicator, a handheld device with which you can video-talk across great distances.

I was laughing out loud, because, you know, iPhones, Zoom, and Facetime. That episode isn’t even 15 years old yet but it’s already so dated it might as well be 50 years old.

FINFER: And we don’t even know what’s looming ahead of us. Because, you know, we’re on this current iteration of the internet.

This guy named Ray Kurzweil has been heralded by Bill Gates as one of the most on-point futurists of our time. Kurzweil is a millionaire several times over for inventing the first musical synthesizer keyboard.

Kurzweil worked on speech recognition software, he’s currently working with NASA and Google to fund this Singularity University. And basically, he says that within the next 10 to 20 years, as Moore’s Law begins to pick up speed on the elbow of the exponential curve of the graph, these computers are going to be smarter than the human brain.

And what that means is, for example, the video game The Sims, in which you’re controlling these little people, and you kind of build empathy towards them but, really, they’re just living in virtual reality.

Well, the people that develop the Sims were wondering, how big of a computer would it take to completely simulate the planet Earth?

And they’ve realized that the computer processing power required could be achieved within the next 10 years.

This is a very “out there” theory. But the theory is that right now we could be living in a simulation of our future selves.

DANE: Okay, so it’s getting all matrix-like now.

FINFER: Exactly, yeah. A theory that relates to human longevity is, as computers shrink in size – if you can get a computer the size of, say, a red blood cell, that, you know, you could inject it into your bloodstream.

That computer could basically float through your body, clear out, you know, fat clogging cells in arteries, repair nerve damage in your brain, you know, basically reverse aging by reprogramming your DNA to tell it, you know, to stop having malfunction codes.

Those computers in your blood would have internet. And so imagine having, like a laptop computer, in your brain that’s hooked up to the internet. So you get those software updates.

So that’s nanotechnology. And they took an organic cell. They made the DNA sequence on a computer and loaded it into that organic cell. And it booted up the organic cell – like it was organic DNA.

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The running time for the audio version of this interview is under 10 minutes. You can HEAR THE PODCAST now – click on the play arrow below:

 

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FINFER: And so the thing about that is, we could program the cell to say, we’ll take oxygen molecules and convert them into carbon dioxide, or probably vice versa.

But the scary thing is, you know, if you had a terrorist bioengineer, they could ostensibly make a nano cell that would convert oxygen into cyanide or something like that, right? This is the shadow side of technology. This is why they’ve funded an entirely new governmental agency – a whole new department of homeland security which is biological defense and nanotechnological defense.

DANE: Of course, as a longevity enthusiast, I’m much more intrigued by the brighter side of technology. And I’m eager to see the progress that will be made in improving human health – not just so we can live longer, but so we can live more robustly while we’re alive, however long that happens to be.

How to Have Your Brightest Future Possible

A tree is trying to grow in your garden. You can’t just paint the brown leaves green. You have to heal the root system if you really want the tree to flourish.

Well, you are the tree.

And you deserve to flourish.

I’ve always been fascinated by health improvement, even as a young kid. So now I’ve been at this thing for almost 60 years, I can share with you some simple principles of where to invest your time and energy if you want to experience more joy in what remains of your life.

• #4 is consistent and strategic exercise.
• #3 is anti-inflammatory nutrition.
• #2 is sleep quality.
• And #1 is thinking more positively.

Since #1 has – unquestionably – the biggest impact, I’ll give you a tip in case it should prove helpful.

Positivity is not about denying life’s challenges but about embracing them with resilience and optimism.

Perhaps what matters most is to look honestly and objectively at yourself in relation to the society in which you were raised and the family of origin in which you were born.

I mean, looking at that with brutal honesty and reflecting deeply on how that has impacted your secret beliefs and choices, even if unconsciously.

No one else has to know as you try to make sense of it all, although a counselor can be invaluable during this process. The point is not to blame anything or anyone but rather for you to uncover the roots of your thought patterns, thereby enabling you to make conscious choices to change them.

Because every culture and family has its unique dynamics – its communication styles, its roles and expectations, its peer pressure and media influences, and its societal norms.

As humans who are busy coping and getting caught up in our daily survival, we postpone thinking about this stuff.

So we bury our unresolved issues in our unconscious so we can deal with it someday in the future when we have more resources.

The thing is, that fractured energy doesn’t just resolve itself while it’s buried. It festers. It constellates. It ends up influencing us in fundamental ways – in areas like sex or money or repetitive, negative thought spirals.

By shedding light on these hidden factors, you empower yourself. You can consciously reshape your beliefs and thought patterns. This process of self-discovery and awareness is a key to unlocking a life that feels more satisfying and meaningful.

I’m not saying it’s always the easiest process, but, wow, it can be so worth it. This is Dane, encouraging you to imagine your future self as someone who is empowered, kind, and joyful.

Additional Sources about Life in the Future:

On Evolution – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution

Delaying Aging – http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2012/jun2012_Suzanne-Somers-Quest-to-Educate-World-About-How-to-Delay-Aging_01.htm

Exponential Growth VS Seeing Time as Linear Steps – http://singularityhub.com/2016/04/05/how-to-think-exponentially-and-better-predict-the-future/