Excel Science Rate of Progression Tenfold

Society, including the government, lacks focus and direction as its sights are tainted by greed, political drama, misinformation, fear and uncertainty. To realize society’s true goal, one must ask which desires all humans share in common. Objectively, the most preferred scenario for society is one where each individual’s opportunity to experience pleasure is maximized while the chances of suffering are minimized, and for this to be maintained as long as possible while consciousness expands. Overall, this would entail reducing or eliminating disease and death, crime, ignorance which leads to bad decision making, reducing the need to do work and labor so that people may spend more time enjoying their lives, avoiding or preventing catastrophes that may result in reducing or eradicating the human population, making life more efficient, easy and enjoyable, as well as colonizing space so that consciousness may continue to reproduce and expand. While this may seem like a long and impossible list of tasks to tackle, there is one answer that may solve every single one of these categories—and that is science. Science is simply the act of learning more about our reality so that we may live in it more safely and efficiently. Given today’s state of technology and science, another century or so of science progression in certain fields may solve every one of society’s needs and problems. However, there is a way to get there much, much sooner—within a decade or so.

Considering that, 136 years ago we didn’t have cars, we’ve come a long way within one century. We now have space exploration, robotics and artificial intelligence, gene editing, the internet, self-driving vehicles, and so much more. Since science progresses even faster WITH science, the next century of science advancement is expected to be even more phenomenal than that of the previous century; however, what if we wanted to see the future of science sooner? There is a way to bring the science and technology from 100 years in the future, back to the next decade or so. The answer isn’t time travel—its time accumulation. Science progression is directly proportional to the hours of research performed. An hour of research does one of two things; it finds out what works, or it finds out what doesn’t work so that researchers don’t waste time repeating them. It’s all trial and error. Either way, an hour of learning is an hour of progression for science; more hours of research will simply result in more discoveries. Generally, multiplying the hours of research by ten in a certain field of science will increase the rate of progression in that field by ten. This would mean advancing said field of science by 100 years over the course of one decade, simply by concentrating the hours of learning into a shorter timeframe. Thus, if we were to advance science by 100 years within only one decade, we would see dramatic improvements in the quality of life for each individual, rich or poor, not to mention, introduce tremendous boosts to our economy and improvements in our military defense. Let’s go over some of the technologies we have today, and visualize advancing them by 100 years or so, to get an idea of what life will be like if we do decide to excel science by a century within the next decade.

You may think that the following technological feats are far-fetched, but we must abandon such thoughts. Today, we have things that people 100 years ago wouldn’t have believed could ever exist, but we are all so used to them being in our everyday lives that they don’t faze us. We are surprised by new technologies every decade or so, so don’t be surprised if the next century of scientific development wouldn’t completely blow your mind!

First up, robotics and artificial intelligence. Today, humanoid robots are running, dancing, performing back-flips and maneuvering around uneven obstacles while maintaining their balance in a manner that seems frighteningly human-like. They are moving or delivering boxes, and even doing construction work. Surgical robots are performing surgeries on patients with more precision than any human doctor may. Self-driving vehicles drive us around while following GPS directions. Artificial intelligence programs are carrying conversations, outperforming human stock brokers in the stock market, and even writing research essays. Add 100 years or so of advancement to this field, and robotics and artificial intelligence may take over the whole labor force, farming our foods, building our houses, and providing our goods and services, as well as providing medical care, and even maintaining and reproducing themselves. Literally no work, management or organization would be assigned to humans, aside from the occasional readjustment of goals to stay up to date with altering circumstances. This would give us the means for a self-sustaining economy, greatly reducing crime, given that no one would struggle to make ends meet. Each family, at a bare minimum, would have free standard housing, foods, medical care and transportation. Money would lose meaning, as humans would have no place in the economy, possibly earning points via certain forms of competition in order to earn privileges beyond the ownership of standardized property or the eligibility to visit highly demanded travel destinations. Robotic and artificially intelligent police would do a better job than today, handling situations more calmly, precisely, efficiently and fairly than emotionally-unstable humans ever could. This would eliminate police brutality or racism. Don’t be fooled by conspiracies such as “the government would abuse us or even exterminate us with robots, since they no longer need us for labor.” Given that robots would do everything better than humans, we would be no use to the government; therefore, they would have no reason to go out of their way to mess with us. And to those who say that we are a hassle to manage, thus giving the government a reason to exterminate us, they wouldn’t need to manage us. The robots and AI would do so, and better than humans could! As far as resources go, there will always be plenty of food and property to go around, and with science progression, renewable and more efficient energy such as superconductors will eventually make resources unlimited. So, don’t worry! No one is out to get us!

Up next, gene editing. In 2012, a gene editing technology called CRISPR was developed. With it, we can edit a living person’s DNA. Our DNA tells every last cell in our bodies what to be and how to behave. DNA marks the difference between being a mouse and a dinosaur. Since we can now customize our DNA, this means that we can customize the natural appearance or function of our bodies, down to the finest cellular detail. Great strides in the battle against cancer have already been made with this gene editing technology. Enormous improvements in patients suffering from Sickle Cell disease have taken place. Vision was restored in blind mice, and human trials are underway. Given that we now have the tool to customize our DNA, we could eventually cure all diseases, genetic disorders (mental and physical) and viruses, as well as adopt abilities of other animals such as regrowing limbs, or immunity to aging (eternal youth is found in some species such as lobsters, which die of other causes). We could customize our genome to become smarter, stronger, healthier and sexier, or simply more exotic (glowing hair or skin, or naturally occurring tattoos). Shame or dislike of one’s appearance or functionality, or even gender, may eventually have a biologically natural solution, without invasive surgeries consisting of fake plastic body parts. In order to attain such feats, we simply need to learn more about DNA and to improve our means by which we edit DNA. Advance this field by one century within one decade, and we may possibly halt or reverse aging and disease in time for us to enjoy these benefits!

Gene editing aside, other fields of biological manipulation are already showing great promise for physical health. Scientists have recently been able to regrow worn down cartilage in animals by utilizing stem cell manipulation, showing hopes for someday allowing the elderly to move youthfully. Researchers have made progress developing living heart valves that can grow with the body and integrate with the patient's native tissue. A team generated the heart valves using a combination of nanotechnology, 3-D printing and tissue engineering, which involves recently developed techniques to grow living cells into functional tissues or organs. Tissue engineering has already been used to successfully develop human skin and bladders. Eventually, 3-D printing an enhanced version of any body part or organ to replace one’s original will be a common occurrence.

We now dive into brain applications. Elon Musk’s Neuralink is a small device that communicates with one’s brain. Musk and his team are currently working on developing this product to enable paralyzed victims to move again, by sending information from the brain to the body while bypassing the spine. A multitude of other disabilities, such as blindness, may soon meet solutions through Neuralink. Uploading knowledge or skills into one’s brain, as Musk stated will later be possible, may increase the efficiency of education tremendously. Advance this product by 100 years, and we may have access to full-on simulations that we wouldn’t be able to tell apart from reality. Online simulations to connect with others for business, social or entertainment purposes would not only make life more efficient and pleasurable, enabling us to experience fantasies and adventures beyond our wildest dreams, but national emergencies such as lockdowns for pandemics would become far more feasible. Harmless mind-altering simulations could also render recreational drugs useless, eliminating drug-trafficking. Partial simulations as people go about their day would also be greatly beneficial, as the device may send information to one’s sensory system to mask feelings of pain, or to mask emotions of depression, addiction or aggression. Recording one’s experiences with brain applications may also prevent the innocent from ever being wrongly convicted.

And then, there is space exploration and colonization. SpaceX intends to make flight to Mars accessible to anyone. Advancing space exploration and colonization may save many of us from Earth’s next great natural catastrophe. Successful space colonization may eventually allow us to repopulate and expand limitlessly, especially if science is greatly reducing the rate of death.
In addition to technology, research in other fields pertaining to psychology and mental health may also greatly improve the wellbeing of society. Finding better ways to stimulate growth in one’s emotional intelligence and critical thinking would enable people to hold a deeper sense of empathy and compassion for others, as well as improve their ability to make more reasonable decisions, greatly reducing crime and promoting positivity. Perhaps education may adopt important additions to teaching. Objective aspects of morality may be rigorously taught to students in order to train their ethical awareness as they make decisions.

Technology may also contribute to the improvement of human behavior. 83,000 brain scans were conducted to confirm that criminals tend to have irregular brain patterns (asymmetrical, too high or too low). Correcting irregular brain patterns with psychological therapy, drugs, or surgeries whereby tumors required removal, was shown to correct irregular or criminal behaviors in those patients. Gene editing and other fields may help offer safer and more efficient methods of brain correction in the future.

The end of humankind is marching toward us in many forms. Asteroids, super volcanoes, deadly viruses, societal fallouts, and many other forms of devastation are waiting to happen, and we don’t know when. Countries simply don’t have the luxury and time for war, we must constantly race against time to prepare our technologies for every potentially catastrophic scenario that awaits us. It would be a darn shame if we are not ready for humanity’s next test, simply because we’ve procrastinated our learning.

Science may literally answer all of humanity’s problems, needs and desires, so it is ironic that science isn’t the world’s first priority. The first step to solving any problem ought to be science, rather than the initiation of war. Limited recourses are the main cause of war; however, there is no better answer for resolving such limitations than science. Recently, a superconductor was developed at normal temperatures for the first time, as they have required extremely cold temperatures thus far. A superconductor is a frictionless medium for electricity. Another decade or so of advancement in this field, as well as the development of other renewable or efficient resources, and limited resources may never again be a problem. Elon Musk has already provided a means of powering the entire world with solar panels. The world’s answer for its problems is learning and solving, not fighting, conquering, stealing and throwing tantrums. By 2021, society ought to evolve beyond such primitive methods of war and violence, and solve problems intelligently.

As a Christian-based country, calls for science progression in the U.S. is often resisted. However, ironically, it greatly supports war. We must not be afraid of science; it isn’t evil. Even the Bible instructs to search for truth, for in light there is truth. Christ was a man of reason, and he spent much of his time on Earth attempting to teach us how to reason and live peacefully. Science is just that—reasoning and learning more about the world around us so that we may live within it more safely, efficiently and peacefully. From the Christian perspective, God created us in his image, and so that may imply that he wants us to be more like him. Humanity “playing God” with gene editing is no different from a child mimicking and learning from his parents. If God created our brains, then let us use them for good to end suffering, and to promote goodness and greatness.
So, if we were to progress science by 100 or 200 years within the next 1 or 2 decades, we now see how dramatically life could improve in terms of peace, efficiency, pleasure, the eradication of pain and suffering, and even possibly the end of human mortality. But how do we afford such of an expansion in research? The U.S. military spending, totaling $989 billion in FY 2021, with military aid to foreign allies only accounting for $1.6 billion of that sum, is greater than the next 7 largest spenders COMBINED (China, Russia, etc.)! That is more spending in one year than 5 times the net worth of the richest man alive (Elon Musk, sitting at $185 billion). Decreasing military funds by $200 billion annually would still leave the U.S. with the strongest military in the world. To fund the expansion of research such that science progresses ten times faster, we must pull the required amount of our taxpayer’s money from the annual budget of the Department of Defense. To excel science by one century within just one decade would pay off economically, defense-wise, and would virtually make each individual’s life far better. Life simply gets better with more learning. Given that we may immensely help the rest of the world with such an advancement of science, our allies may help fund our military for the sake of this project, since they enjoy the benefits of a safer world from our military spending as it is.