from the imagineering dept.
Craig Hubley writes "The American Committee for the United Nations University, which I worked with for some years, recently updated its Global Scenarios which have been compiled since 1997 and include both "normative" and "exploratory" styles, in time ranges to 2025, 2500, and 3000. Of most interest are issues with respect to temporal mechanics and quantum entanglement, inter-species ethics, and the fact that almost all scenarios assume that nanotech will be used by military and "terrorist" organizations at some point. Despite that, a positivist pro-technology tone prevails throughout."
Read more for Craigís take on some of the scenarios. "I suggest Year 3000 Scenario 3 as a starting point, from which I excerpt this gem: "Time travel took many forms. At first there was pseudo time travel (PTT) in the period when the longing for time travel was building but the means were yet absent. Around the globe, enclaves were built that reconstructed periods of the past, the further development of the theme park theme, if you will."
Seems to cast some light on the attraction of Earth as a wilderness preserve with us as the animals… Planet of the Apes style. There is going to be a movement favoring exile of exo-biological matter out of Earth's orbit. Frankly, I don't think nanotech should fight to stay on Earth. It's cheaper to push hard for a real space program, and the vision of a nanotech-enhanced future is not likely to win out in the long run, given the sum total of these scenarios implications."
