![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/goldenhour.jpg\")
\n We sometimes get so caught up in the whining and kvetching we do on a
\n daily basis that we lose sight of the fact that we are really among
\n the most blessed of men, as part of a generation which will be seen
\n in the future as the apex of human achievement and quality of life.
\n We are truly living in the Golden Hour, able to still enjoy both
\n the priceless inheritance we received from our forebears and at
\n the same time reap the benefits of the science and technology
\n which are pointing the way towards humanity’s future.<\/p>\n
Despite the dire predictions of Thomas But it seems certain, just by reading history and the news, that life Probably, the Internet will be everywhere. Every computer, camera, door, There will no longer be any fish left in the world, except maybe for Again, the super-rich will probably still be able to serve swordfish The extreme environments, the Amazon jungle and the Sahara Desert and There will be no more indigenous peoples left on the planet, and their cultures will disappear, except The way we live will be different, too. To support that many people, In a very real way September 11, 2001 will be looked back as a historic Most of the changes are not even visible yet. Most people are going How lucky we are to be alive while there is still a bit of planet to despoil! While we can still partake of pastimes like slash and burn agriculture, fox hunting and open pit mining. That is why we should enjoy these The changes may be inevitable now, but they haven’t started to happen We sometimes get so caught up in the whining and kvetching we do on a daily basis that we lose sight of the fact that we are really among the most blessed of men, as part of a generation which … Continue reading
\n Malthus<\/a> and
\n his ilk, it appears that the human population of the planet will stabilize
\n late in the present
\n century at 10-15 billion people. The ongoing decline in birth rates is
\n directly related to economic development, and seems based on the simple
\n fact that, when faced with economically viable alternatives to staying
\n home and making babies, women take them. Of course, all projections depend
\n on assumptions about the presence or absence of things like continuing
\n economic development and wide scale war or epidemic, so who can say how
\n much this all means.<\/p>\n
\n in the brave new world of the 22nd century and beyond will be much more
\n removed,
\n in
\n all senses, from the life we live today than we are from our ancestors
\n in the late 1800’s. <\/p>\n
\n refrigerator, telephone, turnstyle, cash register, bank account, can
\n opener and copy machine will be connected and reachable via whatever
\n portable or surgically implanted interface is the Windows of the day.
\n Just as citizens will be able to watch or find out anything about their
\n world, so the powers that control the Internet will be able to watch
\n and find out anything about any of those citizens.<\/p>\n
\n very very rich business, government or media figures. They will probably
\n have some kelp based fish stick products for the rest of us. In fact,
\n our whole diet will be different, as there won’t be space for ranches
\n or vineyards. Porterhouse steaks will be a thing of the past; eating
\n meat at all will probably be considered savage, primitive and wasteful.
\n Chicken may survive, they are a remarkably efficient protein converter
\n and really little more than vegetables with feathers. <\/p>\n
\n and veal in their hermetically sealed cyber compounds, but the common
\n people will be relegated to sausage and sushi, and who the hell knows
\n what goes into those.<\/p>\n
\n the Wilds of Borneo will be paved over and developed, their resources
\n efficiently extracted and the left-overs providing homes a workplaces
\n for some unfortunate sliver of humanity. The highest peaks of the Andes
\n and Himalayas may remain somewhat isolated given the high cost of development,
\n but they will probably be popular resorts just for that reason. The oceans
\n will be mostly dead.<\/p>\n
\n as fodder for memorial and reenactment societies. The 187 distinct languages now
\n spoken on the planet will be reduced to 12 or 15. There will be a Target,
\n and a Burger King and a Bank of America within 45 minutes travel of any
\n place on Earth.<\/p>\n
\n society will have to be very highly regularized and regimented. We will
\n be following the lead, not of the US, paragon of the individualism of
\n the past century, but of China, the paragon of the collectivism and control
\n which will be necessary just to get along with that many other people.
\n No more messy, open forums, no more maverick, divisive candidates, no
\n more disruptive protests or destructive civil wars. The time has come
\n to put behind us such childish toys.<\/p>\n
\n dividing line, the end of humanities residence in our terrestrial garden
\n of Eden. For better or worse, the tipping point has been reached, certain
\n previously possible paths of development have become defunct, and we
\n are proceeding ahead down the path of command and control.<\/p>\n
\n along in their lives pretty much as they did before 9\/11, worried about
\n the same stuff, the dentist, the bills, the diet, with perhaps just an
\n underlying edge of inexpressible fear. <\/p>\n
\n last few moments basking in the innocence and warm sunshine of our primal
\n state. They won’t last much longer.<\/p>\n
\n yet, except insofar as we can see the players lining up and the groundwork
\n being laid. It won’t be long now before we’ll look back wistfully on
\n today, and say, "Those were the days."<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"