If we don't I predict it will have been mandate by some future government. People without feelings would be easier to control and tax, and of course, they would be dictating this to us 'for our own good'.
General / Off-Topic Basic living over a thousand years into the future?
- Thread starter Mars
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If we don't I predict it will have been mandate by some future government. People without feelings would be easier to control and tax, and of course, they would be dictating this to us 'for our own good'.
It is in any event an exciting subject and of the highest importance for the future generations and the new civilizations to come. It will determine the fundamental values of the human species
You cant remove emotions and continue as a species, without the desire for things nothing would get done.
people go to work for emotional reasons they desire things that cost money or some people love their jobs or want to heal people or make new discoveries.
without those desires you wouldn't bother and without emotions you wouldn't get bored sitting at home, or care what anyone thought, wanted or needed.
feelings and emotions will always be with us, without them it would just end the species.
people go to work for emotional reasons they desire things that cost money or some people love their jobs or want to heal people or make new discoveries.
without those desires you wouldn't bother and without emotions you wouldn't get bored sitting at home, or care what anyone thought, wanted or needed.
feelings and emotions will always be with us, without them it would just end the species.
Going VR might actually explain the Fermi Paradox. People in the future will just get strapped in with full neural interfaces, living in a perfect world. Robots would do the work, also you'd also be able to "posess" any robot.
"The Congress" is actually a very good science fiction movie in that regard, it shows what it could mean to leave humanity behind. Possibly better than a book could =)
"The Congress" is actually a very good science fiction movie in that regard, it shows what it could mean to leave humanity behind. Possibly better than a book could =)
narcotic refers to a specific group of chemicals mostly, but not entirely, derived from papaver somniferum ..... the psychotropic effects are pronounced but limited.
given current trends it is more likely that mdma derivatives and analogues would be more popular given that the psychotropic effects are more varied. could be something else entirely. think zager and evans 2525.
Neat thread! I actually find it hard to add anything, as Mars' thoughts overlap a lot with my own.
I even remember synthetic meat and real meat being goods in Elite, so I certainly agree that there would be a two or perhaps even three class economy with the upper and middle classes buying real meat, whereas lower classes may only afford meat "from the barrel" or, in the worst case, recycled proteins. This would depend a lot on the individual planet, though, for many worlds may have the capability to support their own farming, whereas on others it could be prohibited due to environmental or even legal concerns. And needless to say, interstellar import might add a lot to the price tag, not to mention any customs fees. Something else that springs to mind are compressed meals in the shape of some small cube or so, which only take on a slightly more natural shape and form when prepared. Easy to store, long expiry period, perfect for small homes or a starship. Think Back to the Future II or Alien 4.
I also agree with sleep becoming much shorter thanks to various enhancements, either technological (REM Enhancer implant) or chemical (some pill that just overrides the need for sleep altogether) or even genetical. Already, humanity has made a lot of progress in turning people into worker drones capable of staying awake 24/7: http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/sleep-is-so-last-year.htm
For washing, some reading on the interwebs seems to suggest that sonic showers are sort-of possible, and have in fact been in development at some point in NASA's history before the project got canned due to budget issues. The trick is that this real sonic shower still used water, just a lot less of it, essentially using ultrasonic waves to vibrate what little soap water the body was sprinkled with (in the form of a steam cloud) to achieve a higher efficiency than with a steady stream of water.
A normal shower that just keeps recycling its water - possibly even tied into both the drink dispenser as well as the toilet, for greater efficiency - also sounds interesting and certainly more low-tech. That being said, the lack of gravity onboard a starship might constitute a problem, though there are ways around it. Here is an interesting document about zero-g cleaning made for ISS Alpha; it also goes into detail regarding alternate methods of cleansing such as using wet towels to rub yourself off: https://archive.org/details/nasa_techdoc_20010098604
The nanobot idea mentioned by ianw is very cool, though somehow this sounds like something only available to the rich.
As for sports, I'm not sure a lot would change. Probably just made more efficient by introducing more pharmaceuticals that somehow support your efforts. Perhaps there would also be implants capable of stimulating your muscles, but I'm not sure how much of that is possible without triggering unwanted limb movement or other such rather unpleasant side-effects.
All in all, it may well be that a lot of scientific advancements won't be available to the majority of the people, just like it is today. Perhaps there will even be a universal or at least regional degeneration of technology that would result in the most modern devices becoming unknown or at least a fabled rarity. Personally, I feel this might be a development very suited to Elite, as it goes along well with living on the edge of civilisation. Think Battletech or Firefly, for example.
I even remember synthetic meat and real meat being goods in Elite, so I certainly agree that there would be a two or perhaps even three class economy with the upper and middle classes buying real meat, whereas lower classes may only afford meat "from the barrel" or, in the worst case, recycled proteins. This would depend a lot on the individual planet, though, for many worlds may have the capability to support their own farming, whereas on others it could be prohibited due to environmental or even legal concerns. And needless to say, interstellar import might add a lot to the price tag, not to mention any customs fees. Something else that springs to mind are compressed meals in the shape of some small cube or so, which only take on a slightly more natural shape and form when prepared. Easy to store, long expiry period, perfect for small homes or a starship. Think Back to the Future II or Alien 4.
I also agree with sleep becoming much shorter thanks to various enhancements, either technological (REM Enhancer implant) or chemical (some pill that just overrides the need for sleep altogether) or even genetical. Already, humanity has made a lot of progress in turning people into worker drones capable of staying awake 24/7: http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/sleep-is-so-last-year.htm
For washing, some reading on the interwebs seems to suggest that sonic showers are sort-of possible, and have in fact been in development at some point in NASA's history before the project got canned due to budget issues. The trick is that this real sonic shower still used water, just a lot less of it, essentially using ultrasonic waves to vibrate what little soap water the body was sprinkled with (in the form of a steam cloud) to achieve a higher efficiency than with a steady stream of water.
A normal shower that just keeps recycling its water - possibly even tied into both the drink dispenser as well as the toilet, for greater efficiency - also sounds interesting and certainly more low-tech. That being said, the lack of gravity onboard a starship might constitute a problem, though there are ways around it. Here is an interesting document about zero-g cleaning made for ISS Alpha; it also goes into detail regarding alternate methods of cleansing such as using wet towels to rub yourself off: https://archive.org/details/nasa_techdoc_20010098604
The nanobot idea mentioned by ianw is very cool, though somehow this sounds like something only available to the rich.
As for sports, I'm not sure a lot would change. Probably just made more efficient by introducing more pharmaceuticals that somehow support your efforts. Perhaps there would also be implants capable of stimulating your muscles, but I'm not sure how much of that is possible without triggering unwanted limb movement or other such rather unpleasant side-effects.
All in all, it may well be that a lot of scientific advancements won't be available to the majority of the people, just like it is today. Perhaps there will even be a universal or at least regional degeneration of technology that would result in the most modern devices becoming unknown or at least a fabled rarity. Personally, I feel this might be a development very suited to Elite, as it goes along well with living on the edge of civilisation. Think Battletech or Firefly, for example.
Ghost in the Shell?
I dunno, there are some developments such as an increasing gap in actual social contact, declining birth numbers, readiness for violence (even in children) and the drastic redistribution of wealth that kind of tie into what was suggested back then. One could say that the things you mentioned are merely artificial replacements for true interpersonal relationships, for which we (or at least some of us) now lack the time as we spend it all on our jobs and the addiction to some sort of screen - that's kind of grim in its own way, perhaps even moreso because it looks so innocent on the surface, yet in a way hides the ugly side of living in the 21st century. "Watching homeless people and civilian war casualties too depressing for you? Have some cat pictures!"
You haven't by any chance watched Equilibrium, have you?
There would of course be very effective technology to control those human/animalistic emotions, feelings, longings and cravings.
Perhaps I would lose part of my humanity in switching those off or dampening them, but I would not mind that at all.
I would certainly keep my basic curiosity and inquisitiveness. That would keep me going. I do not need the hassle of general human contact, sex, or whatever. Most of that is rather vapid, empty, meaningless anyway.
I do not care whether the species continues. Let others do the procreation if they feel so inclined.
As I said, I think mere curiosity and inquisitiveness would be enough to keep me personally going for a long time.
And when I have had enough I just switch off.
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We already have those in Japan.
If you had no feelings or emotions you wouldn't have curiosity and inquisitiveness you would have no reason at all to do anything, you wouldn't even get bored of doing nothing.
Great idea for a thread
I think it would be kinda neat if missions not necessarily given by the military, included scenarios explaining the lifestyle of NPCs based a future universe...
... of course FE2 had package and transport missions given by the public, so maybe more detailed and more interesting things to do...
I think it would be kinda neat if missions not necessarily given by the military, included scenarios explaining the lifestyle of NPCs based a future universe...
... of course FE2 had package and transport missions given by the public, so maybe more detailed and more interesting things to do...
I think curiosity, or inquisitiveness can very well be separated from other undesirable emotions (as I see them). We can even do that now chemically, or surgically, albeit rather crude. Our understanding of this is growing every day. In a thousand years we will probably have mastered a much more precise control. Emotions are not one single indiscernible tangled mass.
I think that in a far future with incredibly advance technology and the possibility to become cyborgs, we might be able to pick and choose which ones we would like to temper or even disable.
Presuming we haven't been bombed back to the stone age by a massive asteroid strike*, of course.
*[insert apocalypse of your choice]
Yeah, those are fair points and I can't really comment on the impact of it all on the generation that grew up with it. I've no idea what they get up to online, but they do seem to get out just as much as my generation did when we were their age.
From my own perspective, the whole online thing augments my social life. I'm in regular contact with friends who have emigrated to the US and Australia, I've met proper real-world friends through the medium of videogames, and I've got back in touch with family and friends I haven't seen for 20 or 30 years. Hell, I even had an amazing and filthy relationship with a lass I would never have met had it not been for AOL 17 years ago
But the flipside of all that is that online interaction is a low-hanging fruit. It's right here in the back bedroom, available at the flick of a switch, when the pub is round the corner... Mind you if there was no internet I dunno if I'd be spending these long winter evenings after work in front of the telly, or snoozing in the armchair after a few cans of beer like my dad used to do when everything was in black and white.
Swings and roundabouts, innit?
Interesting conjecture, but with probably the most fundamental ramifications for the species imaginable. We're in the odd position of being what we are because of the interaction between the constructive and destructive aspects of our personalities. With memory, language and rational thought all layered over primitive fight-flight responses, conditioned behaviour, and possible chemical imbalances - how do we go about separating the "bad" from the "good" and should we even do so?
We are the only species that we know about so far that actively controls its environment to a profound degree. I'm not talking about macro climate effects here (that's a different but related issue) but of basic modifications such as shelter, sanitation, fresh water provision etc. Our urge to change and dominate in order to survive is what drives everything we do. It's the basis of curiosity and invention - that and protection of the self/family/group with which we identify. It may even be related to the concept of self-continuance and the urge to procreate. Take out what may look like undesirable emotions and there is a risk of removing the very impulses that could send us to the stars.
Not that I'm saying this field of investigation should be ignored (no field of study should ever be ignored, no matter how dangerous or trivial it may seem) but we need to proceed very carefully. With all we have learned throughout our evolution, we still know more about the structure of a single grain of sand than we know about the emotional responses associated with looking at it.
As for the OP - what might daily life be like in 1,000 years - the human mind will probably be exactly the same as now with all the current interests, concerns, and drives but the environment we have created will be radically different, and our technological advances will be astonishingly pervasive. Artificial intelligence and embedded technology will probably be ubiquitous and so taken for granted that we won't even think about them as anything special anymore, and we will be immersed in them.
Plastics barely existed a century ago, but they have had a major impact on shaping modern life and we are so dependent on them now that the removal of all plastics would cause society to collapse. The same thing is going to happen with AI.
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This is a wonderfully Hollywood twist on the Rare Earth hypothesis: intelligent life necessarily grows to a point where it destroys not just itself but the entire universe, therefore humanity can only behold universes where nobody else evolved to blow it up before we got our grubby mitts on it.
The problem with that is you'd have to remove your digestive tract. It's a muscular system that needs work to stay healthy, it does that by processing food. Letting that atrophy could lead to ... unpleasant side-effects.I doubt people will 'eat' very much as suggested. Eating 'fresh' will become an optional 'lifestyle' similar to smoking or drug use is today. In the far future (and there won't be one because we'll be long extinct by the 31st century lol) eating will probably consist mostly of ingesting tiny amounts of highly concentrated amino acids and other essential nutritents that can be adapted to offset the effects of ageing. Since we'll all be aiming to run to 500 or so and eating is the #1 cause of DNA damage over the course of our ridiculously indulgent lives ..
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Yes, there is always that.
Our entire civilization could easily collapse for all kinds of reasons of course.
Humans are a frighteningly twisted, schizophrenic amalgam of intelligence and incredible stupidity and animalistic urges.