The Future – A Vision in the Present
Year 2006 A.D., The Present Day:
War, strife, poverty, anger, hatred, love, courage, fear, heroes, villains, all of them, products of emotion. That’s the world as we see it today. Could there be a world without war, poverty, strife, fear, a world without even love and courage? The way I see it, nay, the way I envision it – yes. And its called the Future! A future made possible because of the invention of the Restrictor Chip or WonderChip.
Year 2129 A.D., The Future:
Future, a word laden with anticipation. Anticipation of what is to come, for you, for me, for humanity. Anticipation of progress and prosperity, of technological innovation, even of destruction. What do I anticipate will happen in the time to come? I don’t anticipate. I envision.
In my mind’s eye, in my world within our world, I see not human beings but human units. Human units who are extracted from the mother’s uterus while still in the embryonic stage and stored in an ‘Embryo Bank.’ The way I see it, in this Embryo Bank, a chip will be placed under the hypothalamus of the unit’s brain – the Restrictor Chip, about the size of the an adult human being’s finger-nail.
The chip will perform many functions – primary and secondary. The primary function of the chip, as the name suggests, will be to restrict emotions. Whenever the chip perceives a situation which is likely to give rise to emotion, it interfaces with the brain and does not allow expression or indeed even the feeling of emotion. We often find many uncertainties and perils in today’s world that find their roots in emotions. Thus, the chip will make us efficient units in addition to making the world a safer place. This chip has the potential to stop wars, thereby making it possible to divert all expenditure on war so that it can be utilized for constructive purposes. This chip will also effectively put an end to corruption and vested interests which would mean easier administration for countries and all countries on par with each other.
However, it may be asked how one is to raise a family, or have a ‘real’ conversation, or make vocational choices, for example, without emotions.
Well, the answers to these questions are simple – what with the embryos being stored in the Embryo Banks, there won’t be any need to raise a family.
As for having a ‘real’ conversation, the chip will be built with a function called ‘emotional tolerance.’ In this case, when the human unit is doing something insignificant, like having a conversation with friends, the chip will perceive the situation to be safe for a little expression and feeling of emotion. Thus it will tolerate the expression of emotions in certain exceptional circumstances. Emotional tolerance will also come into play during reproduction. The chip, after communicating with the brain will determine the ideal time for the body to reproduce, and at that time, emotional tolerance will kick in. After the moment has passed however, emotional tolerance will cease thus leaving no attachment after the experience.
When it comes to making choices, indeed most of our choices are based on emotion, vocational choices for instance, the chip will determine from the brain where an individual’s potential lies. For example, if an individual’s potential lies in banking, then the chip will give the individual an objective list of banks where he could get employment and instead of an interview, the bank’s computer will draw inference about the person from the chip and that’s that.
The chip also has secondary functions. One of them would be a medical function. In this case, if a unit’s health is endangered, the chip will automatically secrete ‘healing microbes’ into the body through the individual’s endocrine glands and that will take care of any harmful foreign bodies within the unit.
The other secondary function of the chip is to act as a link between the unit’s brain and the technology of the day. I should stress here that the chip doesn’t control the brain but, in fact, works in tandem with it. Through the chip, the unit would also be able to make the equivalent of phone calls of the day, access the FutureNet and receive his salary.
The life of the chip would range from 120-150 years. When the chip stops functioning, the human unit will be unable to work and use his office. Thus he then goes into ‘retirement.’ The shut down also makes the unit vulnerable to infections and illnesses and thus he is able to die a natural death.
A Day in the Life of a Unit in 2129 A.D.:
Imagine you are asleep. Its time to wake up. The WonderChip sends an electrical impulse to your brain to wake you up. Then it perceives a situation which might produce in the human unit the desire for coffee. It sends another impulse to your brain which will have the same effect on the unit as a cup of coffee.
You then step out of the ‘snooze-tube’ fully energized, as all your vital nutrients have been replenished while you’ve been asleep. Thus, there is no need to eat. You step into the ‘cleansing unit’ for your ‘bath’ and it coats you with a transparent film called the ‘second-skin’. This is a must to keep out UV rays from the sun as the ozone layer now no longer exists.
Then you leave for work. Those who work on Earth are carried by ‘transport tubes’ to their places of work. Those who work on other planets are teleported onto a space station orbiting Earth. They then take a spacebus which carries them at light speed to another space station orbiting their planet of work. They teleport to their offices. When a unit enters his office, the tasks for the day are uploaded onto his WonderChip and he can’t leave the office until he is finished with the tasks for the day. He has no desire to leave for work. He is efficiency personified. At the end of the month, his salary is credited to his chip and when he spends, money is deducted from his chip. Once he is done for the day, he goes back home to the ‘snooze-tube.’
And so that is my vision of the future, imagination unlimited. I’m no science expert, but from my research I’m convinced that most of what I’ve spoken about can be fulfilled. The only question is will we want to live such a colorless existence? The only factor hindering this vision from coming true is our fear of living dreary, emotionless lives, so in essence, the only hindrance to this vision coming true, is emotion.
Year 2006 A.D., The Present Day:
War, strife, poverty, anger, hatred, love, courage, fear, heroes, villains, all of them, products of emotion. That’s the world as we see it today. Could there be a world without war, poverty, strife, fear, a world without even love and courage? The way I see it, nay, the way I envision it – yes. And its called the Future! A future made possible because of the invention of the Restrictor Chip or WonderChip.
Year 2129 A.D., The Future:
Future, a word laden with anticipation. Anticipation of what is to come, for you, for me, for humanity. Anticipation of progress and prosperity, of technological innovation, even of destruction. What do I anticipate will happen in the time to come? I don’t anticipate. I envision.
In my mind’s eye, in my world within our world, I see not human beings but human units. Human units who are extracted from the mother’s uterus while still in the embryonic stage and stored in an ‘Embryo Bank.’ The way I see it, in this Embryo Bank, a chip will be placed under the hypothalamus of the unit’s brain – the Restrictor Chip, about the size of the an adult human being’s finger-nail.
The chip will perform many functions – primary and secondary. The primary function of the chip, as the name suggests, will be to restrict emotions. Whenever the chip perceives a situation which is likely to give rise to emotion, it interfaces with the brain and does not allow expression or indeed even the feeling of emotion. We often find many uncertainties and perils in today’s world that find their roots in emotions. Thus, the chip will make us efficient units in addition to making the world a safer place. This chip has the potential to stop wars, thereby making it possible to divert all expenditure on war so that it can be utilized for constructive purposes. This chip will also effectively put an end to corruption and vested interests which would mean easier administration for countries and all countries on par with each other.
However, it may be asked how one is to raise a family, or have a ‘real’ conversation, or make vocational choices, for example, without emotions.
Well, the answers to these questions are simple – what with the embryos being stored in the Embryo Banks, there won’t be any need to raise a family.
As for having a ‘real’ conversation, the chip will be built with a function called ‘emotional tolerance.’ In this case, when the human unit is doing something insignificant, like having a conversation with friends, the chip will perceive the situation to be safe for a little expression and feeling of emotion. Thus it will tolerate the expression of emotions in certain exceptional circumstances. Emotional tolerance will also come into play during reproduction. The chip, after communicating with the brain will determine the ideal time for the body to reproduce, and at that time, emotional tolerance will kick in. After the moment has passed however, emotional tolerance will cease thus leaving no attachment after the experience.
When it comes to making choices, indeed most of our choices are based on emotion, vocational choices for instance, the chip will determine from the brain where an individual’s potential lies. For example, if an individual’s potential lies in banking, then the chip will give the individual an objective list of banks where he could get employment and instead of an interview, the bank’s computer will draw inference about the person from the chip and that’s that.
The chip also has secondary functions. One of them would be a medical function. In this case, if a unit’s health is endangered, the chip will automatically secrete ‘healing microbes’ into the body through the individual’s endocrine glands and that will take care of any harmful foreign bodies within the unit.
The other secondary function of the chip is to act as a link between the unit’s brain and the technology of the day. I should stress here that the chip doesn’t control the brain but, in fact, works in tandem with it. Through the chip, the unit would also be able to make the equivalent of phone calls of the day, access the FutureNet and receive his salary.
The life of the chip would range from 120-150 years. When the chip stops functioning, the human unit will be unable to work and use his office. Thus he then goes into ‘retirement.’ The shut down also makes the unit vulnerable to infections and illnesses and thus he is able to die a natural death.
A Day in the Life of a Unit in 2129 A.D.:
Imagine you are asleep. Its time to wake up. The WonderChip sends an electrical impulse to your brain to wake you up. Then it perceives a situation which might produce in the human unit the desire for coffee. It sends another impulse to your brain which will have the same effect on the unit as a cup of coffee.
You then step out of the ‘snooze-tube’ fully energized, as all your vital nutrients have been replenished while you’ve been asleep. Thus, there is no need to eat. You step into the ‘cleansing unit’ for your ‘bath’ and it coats you with a transparent film called the ‘second-skin’. This is a must to keep out UV rays from the sun as the ozone layer now no longer exists.
Then you leave for work. Those who work on Earth are carried by ‘transport tubes’ to their places of work. Those who work on other planets are teleported onto a space station orbiting Earth. They then take a spacebus which carries them at light speed to another space station orbiting their planet of work. They teleport to their offices. When a unit enters his office, the tasks for the day are uploaded onto his WonderChip and he can’t leave the office until he is finished with the tasks for the day. He has no desire to leave for work. He is efficiency personified. At the end of the month, his salary is credited to his chip and when he spends, money is deducted from his chip. Once he is done for the day, he goes back home to the ‘snooze-tube.’
And so that is my vision of the future, imagination unlimited. I’m no science expert, but from my research I’m convinced that most of what I’ve spoken about can be fulfilled. The only question is will we want to live such a colorless existence? The only factor hindering this vision from coming true is our fear of living dreary, emotionless lives, so in essence, the only hindrance to this vision coming true, is emotion.
posted by Speed Demon at 11:46 AM
3 Comments:
real BIG expectations!!
ther was a book with a similar idea. i dont remember d name but it dealt with d technological advances. fortunately n brilliantly, u hav given it a slight social side.
well filter...there are many books that deal with future technology...the only thing that i have borrowed from technology already existing is the 'scond skin' and that too only the name. the properties of the material are different. the rest is all original. i don't read science fiction except for Star Wars books...i came up with this cause i had an assignment to write about the technology of the future. i came up with it when i was sitting on the pot!
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