| For centuries, scientists and pseudo-scientists
alike dreamed of transforming base substances into valuable
ones -- alchemy. Alchemists tried to turn lead into
gold, for example. It never worked. But now science
seems to have developed the tools that will enable the
realization of the alchemists' dream. We will be able
to accomplish transmutation. We will actually turn elements
and materials into something entirely different.
By changing a material's atomic structure,
which nanotech makes possible, that material can be
transformed into something else, with new properties,
some of which have never before been seen in nature.
Some physicists have even created a new form of life
-- globs of gaseous plasma that, like any other life
form, can grow, replicate and communicate. Others
have applied electrical signals to quantum dots to
create programmable matter such as wellstone iron,
which can be morphed into substances such as zinc,
rubidium or impervium. By rearranging the placement
of atoms, scientists can create entirely new fabrics
and ceramics. "Bio-fortification" can create
new and more nutritious crops.
But it is not only inanimate elements
and other substances that can be transformed by science.
Human beings can, too. Many scientists are eagerly
exploring how people can be transmutated into some
superior form of humanity through the convergence
of nano-bio-info-cogno technologies. The hope is not
only to improve humanity but to more firmly control
human evolution in order to create bodies and brains
that are more durable, easier to repair and more resistant
to disease, stress and aging. By merging biology and
electronics, bioartificial replacement parts for the
lungs, pancreas, kidneys and limbs can be created.
Artificial muscles can be made out of electroactive
polymers. Biogerontology will result in the reversal
of aging -- "engineered negligible senescence."
We seem to be moving with surprising speed toward
what Ray Kurzweil calls "Human Body Version 2.0"
-- the new re-engineered human that will eliminate
or overcome "the thousand natural shocks that
flesh is heir to."
More and more scientists are working
toward, not only more and better understanding of
the human brain, but transformation of it. Consciousness
is becoming an academically respectable field of study,
and it includes altered states, religion and spirituality.
There is a continuing explosion of research on the
brain and how it works, how to access its thoughts
and patterns, and how it governs behavior and beliefs.
As a result of the growing understanding
of the mind, the lines between man and animal are
blurring. For example, scientists are on the threshold
of creating a mouse whose brain will consist entirely
of human cells. Now, there is a mounting acknowledgement
of the intelligence of plants and the specter of human-plant
chimeras, whereby, for example, a person's cells could
be transformed into pharmaceutical plants. One of
the most challenging dilemmas facing the Patent Office
is, and will be, what is too human to patent in the
world of the laboratory.
Clearly, this will not only apply
to animal and vegetable, but to mineral as well. Robotics
is advancing in all shapes and sizes, and is getting
smarter. All manner of robots will be increasingly
employed or engaged in sports, as pets and playmates,
in war, medicine, business, entertainment, leisure,
home care, and so on. These "artificial"
minds will even replace humans as parents, when they
monitor our children in cars and serve as interactive
babysitters. Autonomous nanotechnology swarms (ANTs)
-- nanobots -- will be highly intelligent and make
smart decisions in many areas of application. Robots
will even self-replicate, by cloning themselves out
of whatever materials made them in the first place.
This movement of intelligence out
of the human realm exclusively, and the shifting focus
on the mind rather than the body, is already having
important implications for the future of products,
services, markets and overall resource usage. To entertain
or caretake or employ humans requires a very different
set of materials and energy than the entertainment,
caretaking and employment of the mind. And since the
mind can now be anywhere, and in anything, we are
presented with fascinating prospects of what the resource
allocations of the future might be.
The promise of improvement for both
materials and humans seems boundless. It ranges from
neutralizing radioactive wastes to making everybody
a superior athlete. It looks increasingly likely that
modern alchemy will help us to find substitutes for
scarce materials, to overcome threats to the environment
and to make almost everything better, stronger, longer
lasting and more beautiful.
Is there a down side? Of course. We
don't know what all the consequences of such revolutionary
developments will be. New nanomaterials may well create
new dangers to human health and the environment. And
the new people we might create may have attributes
that are not as good as hoped for.
Biocybernetics, in particular, raises
many questions, including political ones. Integrating
humans and robots, making robots more like humans
and humans more robotic, creates whole new areas of
concern. For example, if a computer attains human-like
consciousness and intelligence, is disconnecting it
murder or cruel and unusual punishment?
Industries based on natural resources,
from oil to gems to logging, will need to anticipate
what could be a very changed future. They could find
themselves at a competitive disadvantage, or they
might gain an edge over competition by controlling
the direction of development. Third world nations
that heavily depend on current markets for natural
resources could face economic disaster, increasing
the possibilities of conflict and chaos. Conversely,
the ability to create nutrients and water that relieve
disease, malnutrition and drought is potentially the
greatest advance made by humanity.
While most results of the new alchemy
are many years off, especially those related to the
transmutation of people, assessment of the possibilities
and their consequences is an immediate need, as is
the decision to fund or participate in the nascent
areas of research related to each industry or organization.
At the very least, manufacturing processes, supply
chain valuation, risk and new product and market development
are all areas ripe for exploration and assessment.
As we move from mankind to mindkind,
products and services will shift to address the needs
and behaviors of the mind, from emphasizing red uniforms
as opposed to steroids in sports, to equipping alarm
clocks with the ability to read brain patterns and
wake us up during the proper phase of sleep. The resources
that went into building a text world will yield to
the visual patterning and graphic interfaces that
are shaping the brain processing of upcoming generations.
Instead of hiring whole people for
the more creative work, organizational resources will
shift to hiring minds. Eli Lilly's website, InnoCentiye,
has 70,000 registered "solvers" from 173
countries. Corporations post their biology and chemistry
needs, hoping that one of the registered solvers will
be able to provide a solution. Staples held a competition
and received 8,300 submissions from customers who
came up with new product ideas; BMW accessed customer
creativity by allowing people to suggest ways on the
company website to leverage advance telematics and
in-car online services, while the BBC has announced
its "Creative Archive License," providing
public access to its full media archives so that individuals
can participate in the production of entertainment.
This reduces the need for bricks and mortar to house
bodies, and all the overhead that comes with hiring
people, while expanding the universe of potentially
harnessable minds. Along with this, the focus will
begin to shift away from managing people and toward
project management -- putting together all the varied
resources and components, wherever available and in
whatever form, to accomplish the desired task or vision.
As organizational energy input continues to migrate
away from labor, and that which does depend on labor
can seek out lowest cost providers, managing labor
will be less important and managing minds will take
center stage.
The major battles of the future will
be for minds and not bodies. Campaigning to the so-called
"red/blue" divide in the U.S., the proliferation
of think tanks with an ideological predisposition,
the proselytizing by factions of religion and spirituality,
the seeking out of the best employees, the appropriation
of others' identities in a world of virtual commerce,
and diplomacy on the global stage, will add to everything
else cited here. In combination, they will all shift
resources away from the physical into the realm of
the idea, the brand, the experience, the virtual and
the perceivable. Women, animals, plants, children,
thinking machines and people located in remote places
will all take a more prominent position as what is
considered humanity evolves through transmutation
from mankind to mindkind.
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