The Two Future Primates of Mankind – Humankind And A Technology Stable Period
When we talk about the future of mankind, we must first consider what kind of mankind we are and where does it lie today. The definition of mankind has changed a lot through the centuries. For some people the definition of humanity has stayed the same. They believe that humankind is one of several species that walk among us, evolving here on Earth, but becoming extinct elsewhere in the future. Some other individuals believe that we are a very special species and there is a different civilization far higher up on the food chain than we are. This latter group often calls themselves anthropologists and they study the history and cultures of all types of people to determine the direction of human evolution and what species may live on in the future.
The question as to the future of mankind is much more complicated than answering the question ‘what is mankind?’. This question was not even formulated in order to find out what sort of species of mankind would live in the future. It is much more important to ask ‘where will humanity be in the future?’ This is because all forms of life, not just human life, have existed for billions of years and we know very little about how they evolved and how they might evolve in the future. Without some method to measure the future of mankind in some way, it is impossible to say what type of species will live in the future and what kind of civilization will arise from it.
The reason for this is because all of these forms of life that we observe today on the earth have lived in a very similar environment for millions of years. And if we look back at the history of the world, we can see that some of these civilizations flourished at the height of the Ice Ages and others fell apart at the height of the great volcanic eruptions. So it is quite likely that some of what we observe today in the form of civilizations will either start flourishing again or will simply disintegrate in the coming centuries. Therefore we cannot make any claims about which of the past forms of life we will witness in the future, as all of them are very likely to have developed into something completely different.
Now let us look at some of the possible types of civilizations that could emerge in the coming millennia. One of the most common predictions is that after the next few million years, the most probable one will be a Very Small Advanced Civilization (also called a Pleurotic Civilization). This type of a civilization will be highly developed technologically and economically, but it will also be highly isolated and confined to its own habitat. It will appear like a huge bird with only its head visible above the green vegetation. It will resemble the moderns of the Near East, but it will be much smaller and could be hiding in the leaves of the trees.
The second most common prediction is that after another million years, there will arise a Technology Stable Period which will allow the rise of a new type of a civilization. In order for such a civilization to emerge as a ‘developed’ one, it will have to be highly advanced in all the sectors that concern technology. And it will not be surprising if it appears as if the current technologies which we use today will be obsolete within a very short period of time. However, what everyone will not realize is that the current era (the future) can already be considered as being the era of emerging Super Technologies.
Super technologies are those which are expected to emerge in the future and which will be far too advanced for mankind to be able to control and use. Some of these technologies can be seen in various sci fi movies such as Star Wars. And many futurists and researchers believe that such technologies are on the verge of creation. And they see the potential value of such a civilization to mankind. Thus we can take a look at the future of man and predict what kind of civilization he might develop in the future.