7 Top Futurists Make Some Pretty Surprising Predictions About What the Next Decade Will Bring

by Jacqueline Howard,   The Huffington Post

From smartphone apps that can do seemingly everything to driverless cars and eerily humanlike robots, the past decade has seen dramatic advances in science and technology. What amazing advances are we likely to see in the next 10 years?

As part of their “Next 10” series, The Huffington Post recently queried seven futurists about what the next decade of science and technology might hold.

Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku spoke about the rise of a “brain-net” that will enable people to directly share thoughts, emotions, feelings, and memories. Scientists can now hook the brain to a computer and begin to decode some of our memories and thoughts. This might eventually revolutionize communication and even entertainment. ….

Ray Kurzweil, director of engineering at Google, painted a picture of a three-dimensional printing revolution that will enable everything from clothes to organs to be printed inexpensively and easily. … 3D printers will print human organs using modified stem cells with the patient’s own DNA providing an inexhaustible supply of organs and no rejection issues. We will be also able to repair damaged organs with reprogrammed stem cells, for example a heart damaged from a heart attack. ….

Anne Lise Kjaer, founder of trend forecasting agency Kjaer Global, talked about the evolution of M-Health, with new devices and technologies helping to improve both physical and mental health care.

Institute for Global Futures CEO James Canton said artificial intelligence with be both “as smart as and smarter than humans,” and will play crucial roles in everything from medicine to transportation.

Jason Silva, host of “Brain Games” on the National Geographic Channel, predicted increased automation leading to a shift from an ownership to an access culture where “the world is at our fingertips.”

World Future Society CEO Amy Zalman said ongoing research will provide greater insight into the human condition and why people make the choices they do. Finally, author Mark Stevenson said the most important changes will come in the ways technology changes society for the better.  Read the full article

DCL: Nobody in this survey seemed to think about the animals and their survival. Or the crime rate, or over population or world resources or the defeat of worldwide pandemics.  Must one conclude that science and technology will contribute nothing to solving these problems? Maybe moral philosophy has a role to play in the coming decade?

And perhaps the Huffington Post should go back to running a few more poles.