"The speed of technological development is accelerating exponentially and, for this reason, by the year 2030 it will seem as if a whole century’s worth of progress has taken place in the first three decades of the 21st century.
By 2030 it will appear as if a mass of dizzying scientific breakthroughs have suddenly been made simultaneously – in computing, in healthcare, in communications, in wealth generation, in materials performance (including smart plastics), in travel and in robotics. In many ways, life in 2030 will be unrecognisable compared with life today."
Ray Hammond (ibid pg7)
We often hold that the future is a place where the pace of technological development continues along the same trajectory as it has been following since the industrial revolution. The question of whether or not we can sustain such a pace is rarely addressed. When we consider the resources and levels of specialization that goes into advancing technologies we see that today our society or professions are far more specialized than ever before.
BUT....
Is this sustainable? As oil prices rise can we maintain the production of plastics so cheaply and readily? The IPCC reports says that food shortages, water infrastructure and availability are likely to be a problems in the near future. As famine rises in the developing world can our wealth in the Western world protect us?
Can the trajectory of technological advancement maintained ...when food prices go up? ... when water isn't so readily available? ...when the cost of oil drives the price of so much up?
When resources are limited and the cost of living takes a far greater percentage of our incomes is our modern way of life sustainable?
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