Earth 2060: proactive healthcare promises forever-healthy bodies

By Dick Pelletier

      

    In just 50 years, futurists predict that changes in today's healthcare – moving from reactive to proactive procedures – could ward off disease and sickness before they attack us. This change will spur development of powerful bodies fashioned by nanotech processes, made from indestructible non-biological materials that can automatically make repairs when damaged.

    Author Ray Kurzweil in The Singularity is Near, details how our bodies will change in the decades ahead. Today's frail human body, "version 1.0" has a high failure rate (over 50 million died last year, most from age-related diseases). Biotech and nanotech advances expected in the 2010s and 2020s promise a more durable "version 2.0" body immune to most sicknesses, including aging.

    This bring us to "version 3.0" expected by around mid-century; a remarkable, mostly non-biological body boasting a zero failure rate. Even if a destructive event were to occur, technologies could construct a new body with consciousness and memories intact, allowing life to continue. In fact, after a disastrous incident, people would not even realize they had "died".

    Will living in a body that prevents unwanted deaths be accepted? Life extension enthusiasts believe that the desire to survive is deeply ingrained in our consciousness and this technology is just the next natural step in human evolution.

    Science and technologies that promise this dream are developing today and positive thinkers believe this non-biological body will be widely accepted by 2060.

    IBM recently launched a project to "reverse-engineer" the human brain, which could be completed by late-2020s. Some believe this research will help scientists unravel the mysteries of consciousness and one day, be able to program this elusive human trait into machines.

    HHMI's Janelia Farm Campus is rounding up 300 top neuroscientists to perform research into different areas of the mind, including efforts to capture human thought at moment of conception.

Success in these and other efforts is expected to fast-forward healthcare breakthroughs. During the 2010s, stem cell and other biotech therapies offer hope to repair aging bodies and restore them to a more youthful state. In the 2020s, medical nanotech promises to eliminate most sicknesses and eliminate human aging.

    From 2035-to-2050, daring individuals will begin to add non-biological replacement organs, tissues, muscles, and bones; and by late 2050s, most people will enjoy life in an intelligence-enhanced body that automatically repairs itself when damaged.

    Experts tell us that this vision could become reality in time to include many people alive today. The prime requisites for survival include: 1), to maintain the best health possible during today's struggling healthcare time and 2), try to stay positive about your personal future.

    We will soon see overwhelming advances in sickness prevention and age reversal through biotech and nanotech research. As we move through the decades ahead, most people will slowly "grow" into healthier bodies free from most of today's diseases.

    If people stop dying, will our planet become overcrowded? Experts say no; by mid-century, some predict nanotechnology could provide resources for 100 billion people.

    Of course, terrorist WMDs, science accidents, or natural disasters might interrupt this optimistic journey. No one claims this "magical future" will be risk-free, but with hope and positive thoughts, this forward view could become your future.

This article appeared in various print publications and on-line blogs. Comments always welcome.