I was considering putting this in the research thread because that's sort of what I'm doing. But then I thought, why not have a discussion about this that may trail off into other topics. I want people's ideas of what they think will happen to humanity in the very far future. I'm talking from 10,000+ years into the future. I want to talk politics, religion, colonisation, evolution, disasters, universe, alien life, computers, anything really. If we can get a stimulated discussion going here, it will give me (and hopefully others) some ideas to include in my science fiction novel. Offshoot topics are welcomed, as I know there are science fiction fans here who may have beliefs of their own that they want to share. I'll give you a template to help you get thinking. Tell me what you envision the human race will be like/dealing with in: 10,000 years 100,000 years 1 million years 100 million years A couple of rules first. While I encourage and welcome all ideas, please respect people's beliefs when it comes to religion and evolution. And the number one rule, I don't want people saying that the human race will be dead. That does not stimulate discussion or provide any ideas for anyone. So, talk away!
In brief, my ideas are as follows: In 10,000 years, I think there will at least be: A space port on the moon and a colony on Mars. Hopefully a united governement on Earth. The UK and parts of Europe and USA are coming close to being city continents. Strict laws and punishments for excess waste and crime. Controlled reproduction similar to the one child policy of China.
All of this assuming we have not wiped ourselves out.... 10,000 years Racial differences have been erased by continued travel too and from different areas of the globe. 100,000 years Modifications to the human body pattern to optimize certain traits is common-place. 1 million years Racial differences again become apparent as populations are now separated on different planets and space going habitations. These differences will not answer to any of the differences that we now recognize. Different selection pressures will have produced different answers to different needs. 100 million years Humanity will consist of more than one species. Many, in fact.* If recorded history manages to remain somewhat coherent, it will be understood that these different branches of the human tree do come from the same source. If there is a loss of historical coherence, then we will meet aliens who originated on our own mythical planet. I focused on physical evolution because only nature has any experience in the truly long games. Everything else that we humans fabricate is bound to be ephemeral, just a flash in the cosmic pan. There is no use in trying to determine what sort of governments we will have, or religions, because in the long haul, they are negligible concepts. *We are currently living during the only time in our species evolution when there is only one species representing our genus in existence. The norm is for there to be more than one species at any given time.
There could be a speciation event in even just the 10,000 years. By the hundred million years, if humans didn't go extinct, they probably wouldn't even be identifieable as remotely human.
I have a feeling we won't be around in 10,000 years. By that time, we would be long gone due to anything ranging from WWIII, plague, zombie infestation or what have you. In 10,000 years, there'll probably be a new dominating species living on Earth. What would they think of us? Probably the same as we veiwed people living 7991 BC (I went 2009-10,000), if not WORST. At least our ancient civilizations can rest in the knowledge that they're being treated kindly by historians. The new species may not be particulary fond of us and go: "They were born savages, had a long period of grace and dignity, and returned to their savagery in the end." Heck, there'll probably not be a BC/AD anymore. For all we know, it'll be catagorized as PRE-(their race) meaning the time of us and POST-HUMANS (Their time after us). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human This is what they'll probably use when beginning their children on the history of the Human Race.
I didn't think of this but I can totally see this happening. Assuming we've colonised elsewhere in space, different conditions on other planets would drive humans to evolve certain new traits and physical features. Do you really think that they will be different species, though? I mean, I can't think of a well known species that have survived for 100 million years in the past, but then, we'll have the technology to engineer our own evolution and stave off our extinction. We could possibly be the same species, just with different physical traits. Similar to the way we have short pygmies, black and white skin, dark and fair hair etc. Obviously there is no use in trying to determine any of this stuff. But I just want have some kind of discussion about it because it's something I think about a lot. The course of human evolution will probably determine what governments and religions we will have. I would say that with the exponential development of technologies and discoveries in science that religion will slowly dissipate and the amount of atheists will increase..Governments, and if there are any religions left, will probably be engineered towards a human supremacy (although this may change if there are, like you said, multiple species of our genus at the same time).
...Interesting. I dont think we'll be around in 10,000 years either. Technology is developing so quickly that honestly I think we'll gorge ourselves on it to extinction. (I'm one of those people who thinks that Disney / Pixar's Wall-E is not too far off-base.) What I think will be our downfall, though, will be overpopulation. At the rate we are breeding, in continuation with the medical sciences (meaning that radical life extension and a "cure" for cancer are not too far off in our future), and the underwhelming progress we have made with space travel... coupled with the way (I believe) humanity as a whole is going (check out the study on the Ik, if you want a full detailed report) ...well, it's going to create a sense of anomie and chaos that probably will lead to a third world war. xxxx I didnt expand specifically on some of the questions you addressed, A2, because I either dont feel well-versed enough to answer, or I think Wrey did a better job answering than I ever could.
Well I'm a very big believer in the philosophy that Jeff Goldblum's character has in Jurassic Park. "Life will find a way." Overpopulation is, indeed, a very real threat to the continuation of humanity. The only fix to this, is an incredibly strict breeding policy which will harbour resentment among the population, or space colonisation. The thing with space colonisation (and even, more extensive travel) is that most of the breakthroughs have been from war technologies actually during wartime. With our increased aversion to war and our newfound knowledge that war isn't full of glory, there probably won't be a war between two major powers for quite some time (if ever, due to Mutually Assured Destruction). And that would be why space travel tech is quite underwhelming. When there is a need for it, due to the overpopulation crisis, I would expect us to make leaps and bounds in this area. Of course, that is providing that extensive space travel is possible (distance, time, energy required, etc). Btw, what is this "Ik" you speak of?
(I don't go beyond 3000 years, and it's so distant to me ... I think mainly of colonization of the Solar System, and that's all.)
