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The Zoo of the Future
In my book, Jump the Curve, the final chapter is dedicated to the idea of “doing the impossible.” In short, it is my contention that unless you internalize the notion of accelerating change you will dismiss as “impossible” many things that will be imminently possible tomorrow due to the exponential nature of technological progress.
A wonderful case in point is this fascinating article from today’s New York Times claiming that it might soon be possible to regenerate a Wooly Mammoth for $10 million because DNA sequencing technology is continually getting more inexpensive.
Regardless of what one may think of the moral and ethical wisdom of recreating Wooly Mammoths, it is imprudent to dismiss the idea as impossible. Yet this is precisely what Rudolph Jaenisch, a biologist at the Whitehead Institute, has done by proclaiming the idea: “a wishful-thinking experiment with no realistic chance for success.”
To my mind this quote is eerily similar to that of another expert, Lord Kelvin, who famously announced in 1899 that “Heavier than air machines are impossible.” Of course, as we all now know, just four years later the Wright Brothers proved him wrong.
With this in mind, is it possible that in 2012 the New York City Zoo might have a new addition to its line-up—such as the once extinct Wooly Mammoth? Don’t be too quick to dismiss the idea. (It’s too bad that Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park, didn’t live to see this day. But, as I think he knew, yesterday’s science fiction often has a way of becoming tomorrow’s science fact.)
Interested in other some farfetched articles by America’s most provocative futurist, Jack Uldrich? Check out these past posts:
10 Reasons We Will to 1000
What’s Impossible?
The Future of Reading
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Mark:
Great points!
By Jack Uldrich on 2008 11 20
Astroloji, Tarot, tarot kartları, horoskop, yıldız haritası, yükselen burç, burç, burcu, burç yorumları, burçlar, fal, gelecek, kehanet, gezegen, element, Zodyak.Site üzerinden astroloji ve tarot kursu alabilirsiniz.
By astroloji on 2008 12 31
This reminded me of an interview with a science fiction writer I read recently. Here is an excerpt followed by a link to the entire interview.
Did you think early in your career that wed see technology become a mainstream subject?
Yeah, actually I did. As a sci-fi writer you have to be a futurist. I was a very early adopter of a personal computer. And one thing that I try to apply when Im thinking about things is the curve of technology and the way technology feeds on itself and speeds things up.
Science fiction is not as predictive as wed like to think it is. Yeah, Jules Verne talked about submarines, but they were around already. What science fiction does well is not predict what the change is going to be, but make it clear that there is going to be change. What the great science fiction writers missed in computers was miniaturization. You go back to those stories and see where they were talking about the UNIVAC, these room-sized, building- sized computers. They missed miniaturization and the fact that computers would not be owned by giant corporations, that wed all have them.
http://gizmodo.com/5066863/my-favorite-childhood-sci+fi-author-fries-my-brain
By Mark Jenkins on 2008 11 20