On the Future
On the Future

Author: Martin Rees

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2021-10-05

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 0691231060

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A provocative and inspiring look at the future of humanity and science from world-renowned scientist and bestselling author Martin Rees Humanity has reached a critical moment. Our world is unsettled and rapidly changing, and we face existential risks over the next century. Various outcomes—good and bad—are possible. Yet our approach to the future is characterized by short-term thinking, polarizing debates, alarmist rhetoric, and pessimism. In this short, exhilarating book, renowned scientist and bestselling author Martin Rees argues that humanity’s prospects depend on our taking a very different approach to planning for tomorrow. The future of humanity is bound to the future of science and hinges on how successfully we harness technological advances to address our challenges. If we are to use science to solve our problems while avoiding its dystopian risks, we must think rationally, globally, collectively, and optimistically about the long term. Advances in biotechnology, cybertechnology, robotics, and artificial intelligence—if pursued and applied wisely—could empower us to boost the developing and developed world and overcome the threats humanity faces on Earth, from climate change to nuclear war. At the same time, further advances in space science will allow humans to explore the solar system and beyond with robots and AI. But there is no “Plan B” for Earth—no viable alternative within reach if we do not care for our home planet. Rich with fascinating insights into cutting-edge science and technology, this accessible book will captivate anyone who wants to understand the critical issues that will define the future of humanity on Earth and beyond.

Humanity's Future
Humanity's Future

Author: Jay Friedenberg

Publisher:

Published: 2016-06-05

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 9780692701584

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Humanity's Future examines the psychological and social impact of likely future events related to advanced technology. Will humanity feel useless in a future where most tasks are automated and robots do all the work? Will society experience alienation and angst, collapsing into a state of decadence and corruption? How might we improve ourselves, as technology advances in unprecedented ways? Who gets to decide? Can we advance civilization and eliminate genocide and war? Philosophical, scientific and pragmatic issues interwine complexly here, and uncertainties abound, but Dr. Friedenberg unravels the various possiblities with a masterful clarity.

The Future of Humanity
The Future of Humanity

Author: Michio Kaku

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2018-02-20

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 0385542771

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The national bestselling author of The God Equation traverses the frontiers of astrophysics, artificial intelligence, and technology to offer a stunning vision of man's future in space, from settling Mars to traveling to distant galaxies. “Amazing … Kaku is in smooth perfect control of it the entire time.” —The Christian Science Monitor We are entering a new Golden Age of space exploration. With irrepressible enthusiasm and a deep understanding of the cutting-edge research in space travel, world-renowned physicist and futurist Dr. Michio Kaku presents a compelling vision of how humanity may develop a sustainable civilization in outer space. He reveals the developments in robotics, nanotechnology, and biotechnology that may allow us to terraform and build habitable cities on Mars and beyond. He then journeys out of our solar system and discusses how new technologies such as nanoships, laser sails, and fusion rockets may actually make interstellar travel a possibility. We travel beyond our galaxy, and even beyond our universe, as Kaku investigates some of the hottest topics in science today, including warp drive, wormholes, hyperspace, parallel universes, and the multiverse. Ultimately, he shows us how humans may someday achieve a form of immortality and be able to leave our bodies entirely, laser porting to new havens in space.

Big History and the Future of Humanity
Big History and the Future of Humanity

Author: Fred Spier

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2015-05-06

Total Pages: 371

ISBN-13: 1118881729

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big history and the future of humanity “This remains the best single attempt to theorize big history as a discipline that can link core concepts and paradigms across all historical disciplines, from cosmology to geology, from biology to human history. With additional and updated material, the Second Edition also offers a fine introduction to the history of big history and a superb introductory survey to the big history story. Essential reading for anyone interested in a rapidly evolving new field of scholarship that links the sciences and the humanities into a modern, science-based origin story.” David Christian, Macquarie University “Notable for its theoretic approach, this new Second Edition is both an indispensable contribution to the emerging big history narrative and a powerful university textbook. Spier defines words carefully and recognizes the limits of current knowledge, aspects of his own clear thinking.” Cynthia Brown, Emerita, Dominican University of California Reflecting the latest theories in the sciences and humanities, this new edition of Big History and the Future of Humanity presents an accessible and original overview of the entire sweep of history from the origins of the universe and life on Earth up to the present day. Placing the relatively brief period of human history within a much broader framework – one that considers everything from vast galaxy clusters to the tiniest sub-atomic particles – big history is an innovative theoretical approach that opens up entirely new multidisciplinary research agendas. Noted historian Fred Spier reveals how a thorough examination of patterns of complexity can offer richer insights into what the future may have in store for humanity. The second edition includes new learning features, such as highlighted scientific concepts, an illustrative timeline and comprehensive glossary. By exploring the cumulative history from the Big Bang to the modern day, Big History and the Future of Humanity, Second Edition, sheds important historical light on where we have been – and offers a tantalizing glimpse of what lies ahead.

The Precipice
The Precipice

Author: Toby Ord

Publisher: Hachette Books

Published: 2020-03-24

Total Pages: 480

ISBN-13: 031648489X

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This urgent and eye-opening book makes the case that protecting humanity's future is the central challenge of our time. If all goes well, human history is just beginning. Our species could survive for billions of years - enough time to end disease, poverty, and injustice, and to flourish in ways unimaginable today. But this vast future is at risk. With the advent of nuclear weapons, humanity entered a new age, where we face existential catastrophes - those from which we could never come back. Since then, these dangers have only multiplied, from climate change to engineered pathogens and artificial intelligence. If we do not act fast to reach a place of safety, it will soon be too late. Drawing on over a decade of research, The Precipice explores the cutting-edge science behind the risks we face. It puts them in the context of the greater story of humanity: showing how ending these risks is among the most pressing moral issues of our time. And it points the way forward, to the actions and strategies that can safeguard humanity. An Oxford philosopher committed to putting ideas into action, Toby Ord has advised the US National Intelligence Council, the UK Prime Minister's Office, and the World Bank on the biggest questions facing humanity. In The Precipice, he offers a startling reassessment of human history, the future we are failing to protect, and the steps we must take to ensure that our generation is not the last. "A book that seems made for the present moment." —New Yorker

Humanity's Future: the Next 25,000 Years
Humanity's Future: the Next 25,000 Years

Author: Tom Kando

Publisher:

Published: 2016-09-01

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 9781537176192

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The story evolves from mundane, early twenty-first century contemporary politics to a cosmic apotheosis. The first chapters examine the struggles of current nation states, with a special focus on the United States: Presidential successions, immigration, the economy, the energy crisis, the war on terrorism, etc.History advances through the constant ebb and flow of progress and retrogression, taking one step back for every two steps forward. In the near future, the US and the Western Hemisphere suffer great decline. However, there occurs a Renaissance - the Great Awakening. The Western Hemisphere, a new confederacy called Hispaniola, once again will provide renewed leadership and inspiration to the world.Gradually, there is world unification, and expansion into space. In time, there is a federated Earth - Gaia - which expands into the Solar System - Solaria. There are many ups and downs and tragedies, even in the distant future. However, bit by bit, war between nations becomes something of the past and humankind relies increasingly on true science.Scientific progress means space travel, the conquest of space, super communication networks, and above all: the science of the mind. True science is not mechanistic. It is the science of consciousness.Humanity is a forward moving intelligence. It moves towards perfect knowledge - what primitive cultures have called "God." Humanity becomes a unified macro-organism, now called Solaria. In addition, there is A.I. (Artificial Intelligence).Throughout this history, dozens of figures appear. They are major historical figures, some bad, some good, some related to each other in long dynasties. They are society's political and scientific leaders and protagonists. They help humanity to overcome conflict, wars and other challenges.Solaria is the leading anti-entropic life-force in the galaxy and ultimately in the universe, counteracting the universe's relentless race towards ultimate entropy and oblivion.The narrative culminates in an apotheosis when, in the late twenty-fifth millennium, Solaria begins to expand into the galaxy in order to humanize it. Because of Solaria/humanity, the universe becomes self-aware. Humanity evolves towards the Omega point, the point in infinity where total knowledge is achieved.

Water and the Future of Humanity
Water and the Future of Humanity

Author: Gulbenkian Think Tank on Water and the Future of Humanity

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-08-15

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 3319014579

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This unique, engaging, and highly authoritative volume enlightens readers on changes needed in the way society accesses, provides, and uses water. It further shines a light on changes needed in the way we use food, energy, and other goods and services in relation to water, and offers projections and recommendations, up to 2050, that apply to water access challenges facing the poor and the common misuse of water in industry, agriculture, and municipalities. Written by an unparalleled slate of experts convened by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the book takes on one of the most critical issues on the planet today. In a frank yet optimistic assessment of major developmental challenges, but also opportunities, facing future generations, the author elucidates linkages between water and a range of other drivers from various disciplinary and stakeholder perspectives. Ultimately portraying the belief that Humanity can harness its visionary abilities, technologies, and economic resources for increased wellbeing and sound stewardship of resources, the book presents an optimistic statement stressing actions scientists, policy makers, and consumers can and must take to meet the water management challenges of a warming planet anticipating nine billion inhabitants by 2050. Gulbenkian Think Tank on Water and the Future of Humanity: Benedito Braga, Pres. World Water Council & Prof. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of São Paulo, Brazil; Colin Chatres, Director General of the International Water Management Institute, Sri Lanka; William J. Cosgrove, Pres. of Ecoconsult Inc. & Senior Adviser for the UN World Water Development Report, Canada; Luis Veiga da Cunha, Prof. Environmental Science and Engineering, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal; Peter Gleick, Pres. of the Pacific Institute, USA; Pavel Kabat, Director, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria; and Prof. & Chair, Earth Systems Science, Wageningen University, The Netherlands; Mohamed Ait Kadi, President of the General Council of Agricultural Development, Morocco; Daniel P. Loucks, Prof. of Civil Engineering, Cornell Univ. USA; Jan Lundqvist, Senior Scientific Advisor, Stockholm International Water Institute, Sweden; Sunita Narain, Director, Center for Science & Environment, New Delhi, India; Jun Xia, Pres., International Water Resources Association, Chair Prof. & Dean, The Research Institute for Water Security (RIWS), Wuhan University, China.

Electricity: Humanity's Low-carbon Future - Safeguarding Our Ecological Niche
Electricity: Humanity's Low-carbon Future - Safeguarding Our Ecological Niche

Author: Hans B (Teddy) Puttgen

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2021-06-24

Total Pages: 485

ISBN-13: 9811227314

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Climate change is no longer deniable. Neither is the fact that greenhouse gas emissions due to human activities need to be mitigated. The question is how to rapidly transit to an increasingly low-carbon world while essentially sustaining the quality of life of the fortunate and providing better lives for the less fortunate.The challenge is to decarbonize both energy consumption and production with electricity at the core of energy systems.Perhaps Energia, a fictitious country whose 50 million inhabitants endorse climate change objectives and that embodies the energy mutations proposed by the authors, has the answers. Along with Energia, four families living in Africa, America, Asia and Europe who represent us, the consumer, set the stage for the book's discussions.On the user front, the presentation primarily focuses on energy consumption at home and for transport. On the energy production front, the focus shifts to the integration of renewables with fossil and nuclear energy. The book's coverage includes crucial systemic issues related to energy storage, electric power systems and multi-energy systems. In a dedicated chapter, the authors put forward their energy and environmental public policy observations and proposals, including a carbon fee scheme.Electricity is written for readers interested and concerned by the environmental and energy challenges we face, and who seek to participate, as well-informed citizens, in discussions on future energy-related options. The book provides a balanced, factual and unemotional presentation of readily available energy systems and technologies which, when widely deployed, can contribute, both short and long term, toward a low-carbon and electricity-centered world.

Philosophical Faith and the Future of Humanity
Philosophical Faith and the Future of Humanity

Author: Helmut Wautischer

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-01-02

Total Pages: 452

ISBN-13: 9400722230

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Karl Jaspers, who died in 1969, had a profound impact on 20th-century theology and philosophy. His central thesis called for, among other things, a de-centering of philosophy from its Eurocentric roots and a renewal of its dialogue with other traditions, especially Asian ones. This collection of essays includes unpublished work by Jaspers himself as well as testimonies to his life and career by colleagues, associates, and translators, some of who knew Jaspers personally. Readers will also find commentary and interpretation by researchers who have explored Jaspers’ work for decades, and a biographical account of Jaspers’ student Leonard Ehrlich, who handled much of Jaspers’ English translation. The book interrogates Jaspers’ conceptions of ‘philosophical faith’, his philosophy of communication, and the prospects for world philosophy in the future. Focusing on philosophical faith, it assesses Jaspers’ interpretations of key philosophers such as Kant, Hegel, Schelling, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Rosenzweig, as well as examining his personal relationships with Bultmann and Heidegger. Contributors also look at Jaspers’ philosophies of religion and history, his hypothesis of the ‘axial age’ (Achsenzeit), and his contributions to metaphysics, periechontology, and economics. Finally, chapters cover Jaspers’ philosophy of communication and world history. The latter are informed by a burgeoning interest in Kantian ‘Freiheitphilosophie’ that influenced Jaspers, as well as concerns over the future of humanity. These concerns in part account for Jaspers’ growing popularity in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Central/South America, and Asia. Also included are lucid clarifications of the difference between religious and philosophical faith, and the relevance of certainty, trust, and communication for a future of mankind. Trained as a psychiatrist, Jaspers practiced this profession before becoming a philosopher and thus had a keen insight into the workings of the human mind even as he challenged the philosophical establishment of his time. It is perhaps this depth to his background that adds to the contemporary relevance of his work.