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Which field of science holds the most potential in the coming century

Which field of science holds the most potential in the coming century

  • Robotics and AI

    Votes: 3 13.0%
  • biotechnology (genetic engineering)

    Votes: 7 30.4%
  • nanotechnology

    Votes: 4 17.4%
  • alternative energy source (like fusion , solar)

    Votes: 2 8.7%
  • neuroscience

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Space Technology and astronomy

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • medicine (cure of cancer or immortality)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • quantum computering or more powerful computers

    Votes: 3 13.0%
  • something new thing you can think of but no one cares about

    Votes: 3 13.0%
  • green and antipollution tech (from fear of global warming)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • wtf is this guy talking about

    Votes: 1 4.3%

  • Total voters
    23

Little Linguist

Striving for balance
Joined
Jun 23, 2008
Messages
6,880
MBTI Type
xNFP
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
Dude, I don't know, but I certainly hope they do NOT 'cure' immortality. :shock:
 

ygolo

My termites win
Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Messages
5,986
I thought the intention of the OP was to create a poll to be merged with the other thread.

I originally said the next advance would be some combination of things we haven't yet labeled. That's still what I believe.

Still, I've recently been reviewing the research on various fields, and I have to say genomics (which is most appropriately placed under bio-tech) is yielding the most promising looking research.

This affects a lot of other fields, including energy research (researchers have created a biological hydrogen fuel-cell, and also designed variants of e-coli and yeast to "ferment" fuel).

The ability to genetically design organisms that produce and consume what we want is phenomenal, and growing at exponential pace.

If proper VC funding is given to this field, it will make Moore's Law look quaint by comparison (though genomics makes extensive use of bio-informatics and therefore computing).
 

Splittet

Wannabe genius
Joined
Jun 12, 2007
Messages
632
MBTI Type
INTJ
I originally said the next advance would be some combination of things we haven't yet labeled. That's still what I believe.

I think you are wrong about that. Here you can read about how far Raymond Kurzweil thinks we will reach developing existing technologies: Raymond Kurzweil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Some of the things he predicts:

2020
* Personal computers will have the same processing power as human brains.

2020s
* Highly advanced medical nanobots will perform detailed brainscans on live patients.
* Accurate computer simulations of the entire human brain will exist due to these hyperaccurate brainscans, and the workings of the brain will be understood.
* Nanobots capable of entering the bloodstream to "feed" cells and extract waste will exist (though not necessarily be in wide use) by the end of this decade. They will make the normal mode of human food consumption obsolete.
* By the late 2020s, nanotech-based manufacturing will be in widespread use, radically altering the economy as all sorts of products can suddenly be produced for a fraction of their traditional-manufacture costs. The true cost of any product is now the amount it takes to download the design schematics.
* By the later part of this decade, virtual reality will be so high-quality that it will be indistinguishable from real reality.
* The threat posed by genetically engineered pathogens permanently dissipates by the end of this decade as medical nanobots--infinitely more durable, intelligent and capable than any microorganism--become sufficiently advanced.
* A computer passes the Turing test by the last year of the decade (2029), meaning that it is a Strong AI and can think like a human (though the first A.I. is likely to be the equivalent of a very stupid human). This first A.I. is built around a computer simulation of a human brain, which was made possible by previous, nanotech-guided brainscanning.

2030s
* Mind uploading becomes possible.
* Nanomachines could be directly inserted into the brain and could interact with brain cells to totally control incoming and outgoing signals. As a result, truly full-immersion virtual reality could be generated without the need for any external equipment. Afferent nerve pathways could be blocked, totally canceling out the "real" world and leaving the user with only the desired virtual experience.
* Using brain nanobots, recorded or real-time brain transmissions of a person's daily life known as "experience beamers" will be available for other people to remotely experience. This is very similar to how the characters in Being John Malkovich were able to enter the mind of Malkovich and see the world through his eyes.
* Recreational uses aside, nanomachines in peoples' brains will allow them to greatly expand their cognitive, memory and sensory capabilities, to directly interface with computers, and to "telepathically" communicate with other, similarly augmented humans via wireless networks.
* Human body 2.0 (as Kurzweil calls it) is incrementally accumulated into this decade. It consists of a nanotechnological system of nourishment and circulation, obsolescing many internal organs, and an improved skeleton.

2045: The Singularity

* $1000 buys a computer a billion times more intelligent than every human combined. This means that average and even low-end computers are vastly smarter than even highly intelligent, unenhanced humans.
* The Singularity occurs as artificial intelligences surpass human beings as the smartest and most capable life forms on the Earth. Technological development is taken over by the machines, who can think, act and communicate so quickly that normal humans cannot even comprehend what is going on. The machines enter into a "runaway reaction" of self-improvement cycles, with each new generation of A.I.s appearing faster and faster. From this point onwards, technological advancement is explosive, under the control of the machines, and thus cannot be accurately predicted.
* The Singularity is an extremely disruptive, world-altering event that forever changes the course of human history. The extermination of humanity by violent machines is unlikely (though not impossible) because sharp distinctions between man and machine will no longer exist thanks to the existence of cybernetically enhanced humans and uploaded humans.

Please tell me if you can think of anything more revolutionary. I am simply wondering what we would need something unlabeled for...
 

ygolo

My termites win
Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Messages
5,986
I think you are wrong about that. Here you can read about how far Raymond Kurzweil thinks we will reach developing existing technologies: Raymond Kurzweil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Some of the things he predicts:



Please tell me if you can think of anything more revolutionary. I am simply wondering what we would need something unlabeled for...

I didn't mean to imply that there will be some weird new thing.

I just see too many interconnections.

All "new" technologies are really combinations of old ones and discoveries in science. New discoveries in science are facilitated by old technologies. The distinction is a really fuzzy one. People are researching and publishing original work all the time. Most are not really ground-breaking. Even the "ground-breaking" research has a lot of research leading up to it.

What field of science would you place the singularity under? AI? Nanotechnology? Medical Imaging? Neuroscience?

Perhaps by the time it become a real program, it will be call "singularity technology" instead?

There are still a lot of things to be worked out. Our ability to model the human brain in terms of direct functioning is a ways off still. Being able to model at the level individual neurons needs a "Human-Genome-Project-like" initiative to be done within the next 20 years.
 

Splittet

Wannabe genius
Joined
Jun 12, 2007
Messages
632
MBTI Type
INTJ
I didn't mean to imply that there will be some weird new thing.

I just see too many interconnections.

Ah, in that sense I agree, and I said everything was interconnected, which makes it at best almost impossible to call...

There are still a lot of things to be worked out. Our ability to model the human brain in terms of direct functioning is a ways off still. Being able to model at the level individual neurons needs a "Human-Genome-Project-like" initiative to be done within the next 20 years.

Well, the brain is a 20 MB program, and it's that program code we need to find. Once we find it the computers of the future will be powerful enough to simulate the brain basically perfect. I think they'll figure it out, I really do. When we doubt a machine can simulate human intelligence because we think there is something inherently unique about it I think we are simply being arrogant, but you maybe guessed I don't believe in free will.
 
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