Over the last 20 years the human race has seen innovation and disruption take off at an unprecedented pace, and it shows no signs of stopping. As the power of technology continues to grow exponentially, it seems that brand spanking new inventions are concocted every other day, changing the world to such a degree that nothing seems to surprise us anymore. On the one hand, we've begun to normalize the 'absurd', because things we never thought possible before--i.e. self-driving cars, A.I., Netflix on phones--are becoming commonplace, if not essential. On the other hand, this normalization of the absurd can give rise to nasty downsides and unforeseen consequences. Here are the three areas where we're seeing the most innovation, disruption, and finally normalization.
Information Sharing
Multiple articles and essays the world over have been written about it, and Smosh's article covering it's good and bad aspects is pretty entertaining, but if you ask debate.org, 74% of people agree that the Internet is the best invention ever. It's been revolutionary for sure--every 30 seconds, $1.2 million dollars is made on the web globally, you can work from basically anywhere nowadays, and you can find the answer to any question, basic or complex, you might have. The levels of open information sharing have never been higher--but the biggest boon of the Internet is also its biggest weakness.
Take the above link to debate.org. It seems like an authoritative site at first glance, but if you dig deeper you'll notice that it's probably not the best source of impartial information. First of all, the sample size is pretty low--less than 100 respondents. Even then, many of them are "spammy" looking votes and look like they've been submitted multiple times, with things like this written as their "reason" defending their opinion:
A w e YOU DONT NEED A REASON jyhfk jkl kjfk yfkj jyhfky hdlirl h i uhl ul ugh k g l yu k uyg ky k yg uyg lug lu lug lu gl ug lug lu iu gl u iug liug ui glu gl ig g grre 5yuy4r5ufj d jtj hn fjfg
The flagrant use of an an easily fished and completely frivolous statistic from the interwebs is a fantastic display of why the technology is just as problematic as it is helpful. While the internet can absolutely actually inform people, they have to first get past the algorithms that produce the echo chamber, wade through the fake news and false sense of being informed amongst misinformation, and even contend with information overload.
The utopian beginnings of connectivity, it seems, has been reduced to flame wars and dank memez. Fortunately, we may see some semblance of hope in the technology behind Bitcoin, aka the blockchain (More info on that here).
The IoT and Automation
While information sharing has reached an all-time high, the Internet of Things (IoT) is just beginning to take off. As Big Data algorithms and tracking become the norm, you'll find them governing everything from Netflix and Google's marketing and search algorithms to futuristic connected, driverless cars.
But seriously, the IoT is everywhere. The internet-connected phone gave rise to the smartphone, an object human beings have normalized their intense contemporary connections to in a way that can only be described as umbilical. Soon, we'll connect in the same way with our houses, which according to an article published on Wired could not only auto-regulate its temperature and lighting settings, but might also identify users based on their heartbeats. Autonomous trucking is just getting started, and as soon as trucking companies see improved KPIs, the public will begin seeing them on the road. The same goes for "smart" private vehicles. Considering that human error such as simply driving tired is involved at least 20 percent of all fatal accidents (not to mention drunk driving statistics), and that driverless cars can never perpetrate these accidents, it wouldn't be so absurd to see a future where a human driving a car is against the law--and that's normal.
The upsides of the IoT abound, but the cons, however, are often overlooked. As the IoT evolves, automated processes will become much more commonplace, and will even become complex enough to replace human workers. Some reports say the IoT will be responsible for 94,000 job losses by 2021, while others think that autonomous cars alone will kill 5 million jobs. What's more, as the IoT becomes more normalized, we are flooding our market with products that have extremely poor cybersecurity defenses. The Dyn cyberattack in late 2016 that took the internet in the US down for a day was made possible by infected IoT devices with poor security. It's no secret that our homes and offices are being endangered by an IoT that's been dubbed "wildly insecure", but nobody seems to be doing anything about it.
The more normalized the IoT becomes, the more we'll treat it like the original internet before it. We'll find ways to secure it, live with it, and even prosper from it--but we'll likely forget what it was like to ever drive our own cars and turn up the thermostat manually.
Out-Of-This-World Genetic Modifications
While the internet and the IoT/automated future are already in sight, the most controversial of technologies that will become normalized is barely in its infancy. Genetic modification and engineering is going to change the world even more drastically than computers due to revlutions with a system called CRISPR. Check out the link to this video for a more detailed explanation of the topic.
The gist of the argument is this: controlling CRISPR will allow us to make precise and minute modifications to our DNA--and its still in its early stages. Much like the first computer (which was more of a glorified calculator that filled up a room) became much more powerful and useful as time went on (to the point we can't imagine life without them), genetic modification will follow. In fact, first uses of CRISPR to eliminate major world issues like disease are being tested on mosquitos to fight both malaria and the Zika virus.
The benefits of genetic modification are many. Beyond diseases caused by bacteria and viruses, CRISPR can also help to wipe out cancer, as well as genetic diseases--not to mention aging too. The most out-there ideas on CRISPR and genetic modification is that we might able to resurrect extinct animals using their fossils. This means real-life Jurassic Park--or even crazier, almost certain interaction with Martian biology. Considering that NASA's chief scientist believes we'll be certain of alien life by 2025, and that Mars rovers are already currently using GPR technology to search for fossils and signs of life under Mars' surface, we may come face to face with ancient Martians sooner rather than later.
While this technology has the most potential to dramatically change the world in a positive light, genetic editing could also leave us with disastrous consequences. The normalization of so-called "designer babies" has bioethicists worried that those born less-than-perfect may be discriminated against in the future. Not only that, but some worry that the wrong genetics changes introduced into the global gene pool could cause irreversible damage, and could even be used to create weapons of mass destruction. Yikes!
What's clear to see is that things are changing, and they're changing quickly. It's important to be adaptable and able to take on whatever challenges come your way, but it's also imperative that we not forget the lessons of the past, before the abnormal was normalized.