“There is nothing in biology yet found that indicates the inevitability of death.” This suggests to me that it is not at all inevitable.” Kaku posits that, because we are under evolutionary pressure to reproduce during our younger years, an animal becomes a burden on the group once it’s passed its prime, and hence “perhaps evolution has programmed it to die of old age.” Says Nobel laureate Richard Feynman, “There is nothing in biology yet found that indicates the inevitability of death. That bodily deterioration that eventually brings it upon everyone–that is, the aging process–will be slowed, and possibly even halted. Indeed, death itself will be brought under some degree of control. Organ failure, today a common consequence of aging and accident, will be all but eliminated as a cause of death. Through advanced tissue engineering, new organs can be grown from cells taken from your body, and your old ones can be replaced and discarded like worn down automobile parts. In his chapter, the “Future of Medicine: Perfection and Beyond,” Kaku predicts the elimination of nearly every fatal disease (though not AIDS or cancer), the game-changing introduction of nanotechnology into the field of medical care, and the ability to prolong, if not absolutely halt, the aging process. Some of Kaku’s predictions, should they come to pass, will change not only our day-to-day lives, but our very understanding of human life and death.
You would be right to find some of this a bit far-fetched, but how outlandish might an accurate picture of the year 2000 have looked to an individual living in 1900, before the introduction of the radio, when cars were still called “horseless carriages?” In his new book, Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100, renowned physicist Michio Kaku presents his own contribution to this dialogue, by interviewing over 300 scientists, exploiting his status as a scientific “insider” with access to cutting edge developmental technologies, and applying his own well-honed understanding of the laws of physics.Īmong other things, Kaku predicts that humanity will effectively eliminate the energy crisis by mastering the science of cold fusion, develop and commercialize flying cars, and wire nearly every household object, from your toilet to your clothes, to the worldwide web. Like everyone else, they are not always successful.
The school of futurology, by monitoring trends and applying probabilities, has made predicting the future its business. Yet everyone, from a working family, to the Harvard School of Business, to the FBI, has probably given it a try at one time or another. Predicting the future has always been tricky. I’m afraid, unfortunately, that I’m in the last generation to die. I don’t think the time is quite right, but it’s close.
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