Introduction
Advancement in technology has various benefits as it makes it easier for people to perform tasks. Computers have for instance revolutionalised the way tasks are performed in levels no human mind can fathom. However, with more rapid improvement in computer technology one can clearly underscore its impact on human beings and society in general. One could equally speculate that the technology has an impact on a wide range of areas such as human relations, ethics, politics, religion etc.
The Singularity is near
Scholars and even philosophers have toyed with the idea that the computer could in the long run replace the human capacity to do tasks. This will lead to a situation where all human beings will resort to computers. Morris (98) argues that ‘… the ever-accelerating progress of technology gives the appearance of approaching some essential singularity in the history of the race beyond which human affairs, as we know them, could not continue.
Kurzweil sees singularity as a period during which the pace of technology change will be so rapid, its impact so deep, that human life will be irreversibly transformed.’
Kurzweil talks of epochs which represent how humans’ intelligence has exponentially grown. In the early epochs, he shows how intelligence power has evolved from biology, through information in DNA; technology, through information in neural patterns etc (Morris 105).
It is in the fifth epoch that there is an intersection where technology masters the methods of biology. Here intelligence of humans thus falls. He finally talks of a highly functioning human intelligence spreading throughout the universe. This intelligence is non-biological.
Technology could affect several aspects of social life. Kurzweil predicts a situation where technology would lead to immortality. Look at the impact this situation could impact on the resources; many people will clamber for the scarce resources. This could actually lead to unrest between nations and wars resulting from such demand would be the order of the day.
It is therefore worth noting the relationship of humans to computers over the next 100 years. I feel that human beings will over-rely on computers over the next 100 years to such an extent that human capacities will be overlooked (Morris 125). One can for example already see how the internet is used to do virtually everything from serving as a platform on which business transactions are carried to dating.
In Why the West Rules For now: The pattern of History and what they Reveal about the Future, Morris has clearly given a chronology of how civilizations have developed and failed through reasons beyond their control (Morris 114). He has, in addition, given examples of how rapid technological growth made Britain become the leader among economic and maritime giants; a record by which one can see how technology may lead to shifting power, basing on who advances faster.
Technological ‘war’ could lead to tension reminiscent of the Cold War. It is therefore worth noting how technological change could affect the international relations. Technological advancement may lead to redundancy in human labor. One can only guess how millions could immigrate in search of labor overseas and the effect this would cause nations.
Technological advancement has revolutionized the way we do things; it has cut the distance thereby making the world a global village (Morris 150). Communication is now faster therefore making it easy to do business on the virtual platform. Since people working on a globalised platform may need some agreeable standardization, I feel that this technological advancement may lead to a situation where human beings may develop global institutions of governance since technology has broken the geographical borders.
Conclusion
In conclusion, one can observe that there seems to be a pattern of events that can predict how events will be in future. That is, we could be headed to a form of singularity.
Works Cited
Morris, Ian. Why the West Rules – For Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal About the Future. Ontario: McClelland & Stewart, 2010