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Intelligence Council Predicts 3D Printed Organs, Megacities, Brain Chips by 2030

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31–40 of 51 posts

Re: Intelligence Council Predicts 3D Printed Organs, Megacities, Brain Chips by 2030

#31
post #28
post #25

I love how our predictions of the future never account for the existence of poor people. That's why they're always so wildly off; the vast bulk of humanity are never factored into the equation. While I don't doubt there'll be printable organs and brain-integrated silicon by 2030, the majority of people will not benefit, and the tensions brought about by escalating inequality will set progress back by years.

Yes, my first thought was with rising healthcare costs whether even I'd be able to afford these fancy manufactured organs should I need them.

I have nightmares about neural implants being available but out of my ability to pay for them. And I am fortunate enough to be able to afford food and shelter. Poverty is a serious problem that should be solved. Food, shelter, healthcare, and neural implants should be available to everyone.

Re: Intelligence Council Predicts 3D Printed Organs, Megacities, Brain Chips by 2030

#32
If you enjoy these kind of brain modification technologies, check out the book The Brain That Changes Itself, which discusses neural plasticity http://www.amazon.com/Brain-That-Changes-Itself-Frontiers/dp.... This is the science that led to the cochlear implant and may lead to other brain-interface devices.

Also, the part about biohacks and bio-weapons, reminded me of the movie Prometheus.

Re: Intelligence Council Predicts 3D Printed Organs, Megacities, Brain Chips by 2030

#33
post #25

I love how our predictions of the future never account for the existence of poor people. That's why they're always so wildly off; the vast bulk of humanity are never factored into the equation. While I don't doubt there'll be printable organs and brain-integrated silicon by 2030, the majority of people will not benefit, and the tensions brought about by escalating inequality will set progress back by years.

> escalating inequality

Worldwide poverty has been declining for decades. Costs of technology is declining at an ever rapid pace.

Income equality between the top bracket and the bottom != less access to technology for everyone

Re: Intelligence Council Predicts 3D Printed Organs, Megacities, Brain Chips by 2030

#34

Everytime these predictions are made, the outcome seems to be the exact opposite. That said, in 2030 I predict: - After toying with 3D printers for a while, they will go back to vat-grown organs - With widespread Internet access, remote work being a reality and local energy generation, people will leave the big cities seeking better life quality in smaller, country-side cities - There won't be brain chips

I think predictions overdo the 'physical' improvements like hover cars. I mean, it's almost 2013 and a majority of the population has general computers connected to the internet in their pockets, through which we can watch almost any movie or listen to any song. Try explaining that to someone from the early 80's. Too bad the head of wired is a pessimist when it comes to the singularity; I think he's just as deluded a…

When the singularity happens, some douche will already have a patent on it and ruin it for everyone.

Re: Intelligence Council Predicts 3D Printed Organs, Megacities, Brain Chips by 2030

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is stopping something like the medical wristband thing? Nobody would wear a bracelet like that, but why not an RFID card? That seems like a great idea. What would it take to start something like that?

Security is a big problem. Do you want everyone who gets within 10 feet of you to have access to your complete medical history, name, social security number and insurance information? Then there's the fact that RFIDs can't send much data; you could have them send a UUID that allows doctors to look you up over the internet, but now your wristband is a universal tracking device that allows anyone to track your movement…

The UUID thing I think is a non-issue... RFIDs are already in passports, credit cards, student IDs, etc. Having a UUID on the RFID that is associated with a secure database seems like it would solve this problem.

Then the problem becomes, how do you get doctors and hospitals to use something like this? Creating a private database that providers could optionally use seems doable. The hard part would be creating a large enough percentage of adoption at first. After that, more and more providers would see the benefit of using the system, and patients might even start asking for it, or preferring hospitals that have it.

Re: Intelligence Council Predicts 3D Printed Organs, Megacities, Brain Chips by 2030

#37

Everytime these predictions are made, the outcome seems to be the exact opposite. That said, in 2030 I predict: - After toying with 3D printers for a while, they will go back to vat-grown organs - With widespread Internet access, remote work being a reality and local energy generation, people will leave the big cities seeking better life quality in smaller, country-side cities - There won't be brain chips

People are already seeking better life quality in smaller, country-side cities. I recently bought a place in a mountain resort 2 hours outside of DC. Housing there costs 30% what it would cost in Montgomery County or Fairfax, it is insanely beautiful, and they have more reliable power/internet. I was told by my realtor, the home inspector, and a local bartender that there seems to be an influx of programmers moving to the area.

Re: Intelligence Council Predicts 3D Printed Organs, Megacities, Brain Chips by 2030

#38
post #26

Everytime these predictions are made, the outcome seems to be the exact opposite. That said, in 2030 I predict: - After toying with 3D printers for a while, they will go back to vat-grown organs - With widespread Internet access, remote work being a reality and local energy generation, people will leave the big cities seeking better life quality in smaller, country-side cities - There won't be brain chips

There won't be brain chips Sure about that? http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/142797-brain-pacemaker-he...

Hell, cochlear implants are pretty damn close already, and we are making progress on the optical equivalent. These technologies, plus 20 years of improvements to them, are really only a mere application away from giving the user augmented reality.

I think the only real question is will the economics of the implants permit "casual" usage.

Re: Intelligence Council Predicts 3D Printed Organs, Megacities, Brain Chips by 2030

#39
post #25

I love how our predictions of the future never account for the existence of poor people. That's why they're always so wildly off; the vast bulk of humanity are never factored into the equation. While I don't doubt there'll be printable organs and brain-integrated silicon by 2030, the majority of people will not benefit, and the tensions brought about by escalating inequality will set progress back by years.

There will always be poor people, but quality of life goes up for everyone. Just look at e.g. how many people own computers/TVs/Cell Phones compared to 20 years ago.

World wide (outside of my native US), I have less of an idea.

Re: Intelligence Council Predicts 3D Printed Organs, Megacities, Brain Chips by 2030

#40

I have the Washington Post from Jan 1, 2000. Below the fold is an article on what the future would hold tech-wise for a child born that day. By 2010, we were all supposed to be wearing wristbands with all of our medical information on it, so doctors would simply have to scan them to gain our history. We also wouldn't have cheap (meaning not thousands upon thousands of dollars) mobile computers with the ability to acc…

What is stopping something like the medical wristband thing? Nobody would wear a bracelet like that, but why not an RFID card? That seems like a great idea. What would it take to start something like that?

HIPAA, for one. If you want to design, build or market anything that deals with patient data, you better build a hoop-jumping machine first.

Reluctance to change, for two. You have to convince most hospitals to change from whatever they have installed now to your system, or you have to make your system 100% compatible with the current hospital systems, with minimal changes.

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