Where do we come from? Where are we going?

It was the late ’90s when a room in my college, in India, was converted to a computer room. Specifically, computers connected to the Internet. We had to take off our shoes to get into the room. There was an “internet expert” who would teach us how to use the computer and search websites. Today, a 4-year-old child can navigate to Internet without much difficulty. The world is entangled in the World Wide Web.  Not many people have envisioned such the rapid expansion of technology platforms in such a short time.

Going even further back, during my childhood in the ’80s, the main source of news was Newspaper. Then there was a radio broadcast in the morning, noon and evening. Television became popular in the late ’80s. The 90’s witnessed the expansion of the television industry with the opening up of the industry to several national and international channels. The first decade of 2000 expanded the Internet by widespread ‘internet café’ and broadband Internet. The second decade of the

Where do we come from? Where are we going? A painting by artist Paul Gaugin           (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_Do_We_Come_From%3F_What_Are_We%3F_Where_Are_We_Going%3F)

The 2000s will be remembered for Internet-based empowering technologies and platforms that captivated and redefined the economic, social and political landscape of the whole world. The smartphone redefined the way we access information, communicate with fellow human beings and conduct our daily lives. There are not-many human beings with basic education,  who do not use the Internet on a daily basis.

The last decade really felt the power of the invisible ‘web’ that encircle all of us. The world-wide-web of information, knowledge, conspiracy, and also possibilities. This decade was started with the Arab spring, which has been largely attributed to the social networking platforms. The internet-based “disruptive business models” became popular only in the past 6 years. Online streaming, ride-sharing, food delivery services, mobile-based money transactions… just name few. Anyone who has an Internet connection can get access to all the knowledge available in the world.  All major educational institutions have made their high-quality courses freely accessible to anyone interested.

I feel humbled to be born in this unique crossroads in history. My generation was raised in a society where one on one communication was encouraged. Most of my childhood friends never seriously dreamed about possibilities outside our limited world. Almost all of those friends are still living in my village. I mentioned only about the rapid development happened in the media, communication and information technologies. There have been parallel developments in health care, wellness and other industries, which is exciting in its own rights. Looking back, I was aware of the existence of several radio stations, televisions with 24-hrs programs through my expatriate cousins. But now, living in the thick of a society that is at the forefront of emerging technologies, what would be my prediction about the next two decades? Unpredictable is the first word that comes to mind. I have a strong feeling that the transportation and commute will be significantly changed with self-driving vehicles. Many traditional jobs might disappear; there are already no-human employee stores, and artificial intelligence making better-disease diagnosis reading pathology slides and radiograms. Real-time language translation also makes communication between humans easier, making us less divided (I hope).

What am I at dark, on technologies similar to smartphones and social media platforms? The technologies so far enhanced our access to information and how we communicate. I believe that the next development would on how will process this information to enhance our cognition and expand our consciousness. Can we network the brain? Brain-computer interphase, Brain-internet connectivity? Singularity? Well, may not be in the next decade. But, this is exactly what is interesting, I don't know. I hope I could play a small role in the right causes rather than being a mere witness.

As a parent I sometimes worry about what the future holds for my child. How should I prepare her to take up the next world challenges? I am almost certain that none- of her childhood friends would ever stay in one place (as opposed to my friends). 100’s of people of my age have already signed for a one-way trip to Mars. Who knows, my child’s generation might be the first space-faring civilization. Well, that might take more than a few decades (or one asteroid). As in the case of any situation, one could have an optimistic and pessimistic attitude. I am an optimist. I hope that whatever technologies come up will only help us, humans, to connect more together than divide us further. These technologies will make us aware of the connectedness and worldly order and help to expand the collective human consciousness. And all the children will be just fine!