The World in 2030

The World in 2030 37
As I shall discuss in my later section on ‘Accelerating,
Exponential Technology Development’, this is not
necessarily the alarming prospect that it might seem, but it is
the principal reason that current futurology is unable to peer
much further ahead than the fourth decade of the 21 st century.
After that the future will become alien, unrecognisable and
indescribable to present-day human audiences.
I regard the phenomenon of accelerating technological
development as the ‘joker in the pack’ when it comes to
considering future trends. During the next quarter of a
century it is possible that presently unforeseeable ‘wild card’
technologies will be developed that will solve the world’s
demand for clean energy and, perhaps, even provide some
degree of control over the world’s climate. It might even
solve the drinking water shortage. I shall return to these
speculations in the relevant sections.
6. The ‘Prevent-Extend’ Revolution in Medicine
(Prevention and Longevity)
While machines may be on what appears to be the verge of
usurping our species on this planet, we humans will not be
standing still. In fact we will be altering what it means to be
human, and in some very dramatic ways.
Because humans often lack a language for the technological
future I have created a portmanteau phrase – ‘prevent-extend’
– to describe a new form of medicine that will emerge
over the next twenty-five years. Instead of attempting to