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    Do you feel optimistic or pessimistic about our future? Here CNN.com readers voice their opinions. --------------------------------------------------- We should be concerned more about mother nature than anything else. Diseases and wars will never end even with the best technology. The rich will continue to be rich while the poor will continue to be poor. ----------------------------------------------------- I have to agree with the comments made by Daniela Cerqui in your article. The future is indeed very worrying to me and I will even venture to say that we will all be like "Cyborgs" or robots with microchip implants under some form of "super control". ---------------------------------------------------- I am optimistic about the future of technology and science because of the advances in the past 15 years. It seems that every day there are more and more amazing things being invented. ------------------------------------------------------- I'm pessimistic because we are willfully constraining ourselves in the straitjacket of money. Everything we do is governed by money and this is severely limiting our advancements in every way possible. Without the pressure of money, or with a limitless budget, unimaginably great things can be achieved which will benefit us all in ways we cannot even begin to imagine. This is all a very sad thing. ---------------------------------------------------- Unless we strive to remove poverty and stop wars, technology will only improve our current rich vs. poor crisis in the world and provide new and more horrible ways of killing each other. The wonders of modern science and technology are providing the tools by which we can tackle climate change, poverty, disease and loads of other issues that have plagued mankind for millennia. Yet, what are we doing? Increasing military spending, denying oil's demise and polluting our planet more than ever. That's hardly an encouraging thought... ------------------------------------------------------- I feel pessimistic about the future for one simple reason - ourselves. Although there are pockets of populations that strive for spirituality and personal enlightenment, there is increasing hatred, arrogance, and reliance on might. While there are scientists and researchers who strive for the greater good, there are also altered or skewed uses of technology and sciences that do more harm rather than good. There is a need to recognize that "compliance" to laws is not the same as the truth, hopefully there will be eventual growth and wisdom in the right direction. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I believe future technology will do a lot of good. save and extend lives, increase the quality of life, etc. But I'm also quite sure that there will arise a fight over technology. It will mostly be about money and who can afford technology and who cannot. In the end it will divide us all up into those who can profit from it and those who can't. I really appreciate what technology can and could do for us. But we should always be aware of the danger, too. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I positively believe that the coming technology and science will excite, comfort, care, and entertain lives around the world. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am not very optimistic for the future, as much as I love technology, it really feels like the soul of our work has gone out the door in a world where quantity over quality is paramount. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I do feel optimistic about the future sometimes, but mostly I feel pessimistic about the future because technology, especially computer technology and medical technology, is just too expensive for most people in the world to purchase. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am pessimistic. All this speculation about communication and physical health is fine, but what will people do for enjoyment? What will people strive for? Will we be bored by all this stuff? What will happen to family relationships and moral constraints? Will a loss of religion result in widespread hedonism? Will nihilism and sex obsession break up social bonds? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It seems clear that we're going to be able to do just about anything we want. So the problems aren't going to center on CAN we do this or that. The problems will swirl around the question of SHOULD we do this or that. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I believe that technology has always brought benefits to mankind, but the events we have seen show that the consequences of our endeavors over nature and even the exploitation of some fading resources can bring terrible surprises in the future. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I think the future is going to be as bright and gloomy as predicted by the smartest minds. But in the end our consumption of energy, raw materials and wildlife will have surpassed all our upcoming technological and scientific skills by far. Because our greed has no limits. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I do see a very encouraging future if today's trends are anything to go by. Looking at the advances in medical, technological and information in general, challenges are being overcome. Although I feel that legislation should be in place prior to adopting new trends in these areas. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next greatest paradigm shift in the human condition will emerge from the consequences of a dramatically extended lifespan. That technology will prevail over all disease and even treat aging itself as a treatable condition is inevitable. Harold Brenner, Greece ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The last 100 years have brought mind boggling advances in science and technology. I believe the next 100 years will be even better. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm very optimistic about the promises of science and technology. We will be healthier, we will live longer... But it's not important at all. Improvement of quality of life is beyond power of science. With things like hatred, racism, intolerance, how can I be optimistic about future? Our future will be created by us, not by technology. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My optimism is with the youth of today and their utilization of accumulated knowledge and technology. I see a bright, more equal population coming into their own with less hate, more trust and vision. They have learned that some of the old ways just do not work, like war and killing, that most suffering can be addressed and alleviated and they can work together. It is one of the first generations to come of age that has never known anything but integration and equality until they are given a reason on a case by case basis. --------------------------- History shows that people can make the right choices. That's a good reason to be optimistic about science and humanity. ------------------------------------------------------ I feel optimistic about the future of technology and science especially on the field of medicine, because there will be more solution to disease and cancer. But I feel pessimistic at the same time, because ethics will be forgotten, rules of mother nature will be overruled and even human lives will be sacrificed to make science and technology advance yet without emotion and conscience. ------------------------------------------------------ The main thing that most people will be looking forward to in the future is the advancement of medicine. The most intriguing being the extension of life. Albeit, it may be perceived as a good thing being able to live well into your 100s or maybe even your 150s, there is one question we have to ask ourselves: Are we meant to live that long? All organisms have an average life span, but what will happen to our minds and bodies when they pass the 'expiry date' so to speak? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's so difficult to define exactly optimistic or pessimistic views. Science and technology improve conditions but don't improve man as human. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The future is such an amazing "thing": it could be a nightmare as it could be a wonderful dream. But the most important fact, in my opinion, is that the future is only a potentiality, something which is not created yet. Being so, it will be, or could be, whatever you want and we will have to choose carefully between every possibility which lied down in front of us. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm optimistic about the future of technology and science, in particular areas that will help to preserve our environment for modern living. I believe there is active research going on to replace petroleum as a source of energy of automobiles and machines, perhaps this might preserve our habitat and our fossil fuels in the long run. If we could utilize solar energy more effectively, we might save more petroleum/fuel in the long run. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technological advancement is exciting, but as has always been automation causes unemployment. People need to work. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When technology and science are applied to the daily needs of people, they're no longer "science", they're part of our lives. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I feel optimistic about the future of science and technology and how it can influence our lives. If only people will keep an open mind instead of pushing for baseless 'moral and ethical' principles, mainly rooted in fear and ignorance, science and technology can help create a world free of disease, hunger, and illiteracy. In the end, only through the education and cooperation of all nations can we make use of technology to its full potential. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Because of population growth, and the increased global demand for energy, I feel pessimistic about the future. We need to curb both population growth and energy consumption to make it possible for everyone to enjoy the standard of living we have now. I am optimistic because of mankind's intelligence and constructive social conscience; I am pessimistic because of the inherent greed, selfishness and short-sightedness of individual people. In other words, I fear we have already spoiled our nest on earth via technology, and may even destroy it totally before these wonderful advances in medicine and living can be advanced to all people on our planet. Man is good, man is evil. Technology might be more efficient and environmentally friendly in the future; however, the growing population and higher demand will cause even bigger problems, which currently, are not even existing. Feeding the world might be a very good thought but if the world's population keeps growing, I wonder where to put these people? We will use all our natural resources and leave no space for nature, which in the long run might help us to recover from the mistakes we did in the past centuries. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Since there have been such huge improvements in science and technology, it is possible that we may have bigger breakthroughs in the future. There is no point not being optimistic, but we do really need to make breakthrough for our environmental well-being. I will leave behind a stranger earth than I found it on entry here. The future of technology looks bright; the future of our ability to ethically handle the technology looks dim, to me. Humankind is a glorious creation, but not creator, of life. The future is indeed bright and interesting as far as technological innovations and advances in bio-chemistry and mechanics are concerned. Still an important goal will be in the sphere of human resource with the aim of reaching and realizing the full potential of human brain. One can only hope that medical science will be able to play a critical and positive role in this respect transforming radically our sense of knowledge and perception of the world around us and beyond. Projecting the future of technological and medical advancements is far simpler than predicting the social changes to come. Will equality for all ever be fully realized or are we sliding backwards into a moral abyss? |
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