Standing on the moon, you can see a planet with 7.5 billion people, with over 50% of that population connected by a wireless network that has played a very big role in improving the worldwide economy to absurd values reaching 80 trillion dollars in the year 2020.

That’s not to talk of the fusion of technologies ranging from nanotech and bioengineering to cognitive science and information technology to form the popular NBIC acronym that has directly impacted the quality of life for humans all over the world through more efficient systems for the utilization of energy, and creation of better channels for communication that allows people to interact with friends and family all over the world in real time. So much so that provision of food and water sufficient to cater for the world’s population to a good enough level, is seen as less of an achievement.

Indeed, the benefits of fostering the intelligence built on this network has yielded levels of efficiency and value that has never been matched in any era of history. There’s now a sense of urgency at work that drives the effects of technological advancement beyond just a global economic boom, to even produce numerous alternatives when it comes to the sustainability of energy. At the same time, the production sector has reaped such a great measure of efficacy, that while the price of goods has had to drop due to the increasingly large number of goods that can be churned off the production line per time, enormous profit is still being made.

The new political standards have also pushed the standard of living so far up, that poor societies can at least boast access to basic amenities, and world peace is a result of that. Space explorations have been encouraged and no longer command so much fascination and robotics and artificial intelligence have also developed so much towards a critical junction that has been dubbed a ‘technological singularity’.

What will result from that critical junction remains speculation, but there’s the understanding that the world still obeys the guidance of Moore’s Law, and computers have adapted more facets in the form of 3D circuits and quantum computing that finds application in topics concerning subatomic particles. Some speculate the technological advancement will soon birth the replication of the complexity of human neurons in computer transistors, while others project the rise of humans that have broken natural limitations to rise and become examples of ‘transhumanism’ – a superior, yet human, lifeform – as artificial intelligence surpasses human intellect.

Perhaps that best brings the popular fictional rise of human-conquering robots to mind, but it should be known that cyborgs and clones are not novel inventions, many people are already beneficiaries of the augmentation of computer systems in biological systems. So much so, that most civilizations no longer appreciate how unnatural it is. Instead, the ‘natural’ men are slowly being outnumbered as technology moves us to a brighter future.

After all, the slow and unpredictable biological evolution might not prepare us for the times ahead as fast as these technological developments can. The ever-constant change is at hand, and will be apparent in both the ‘new humans’ and the flow of energy they will use, and that is certainly something to look forward to!