The Next Era

We might be entering an era where aging becomes a thing of the past, obesity gone, where even paralysis is temporary.

I recently finished the book How Innovation Works by Matt Ridley and there's an idea that I can't stop thinking about. I'm obsessed with the intersection of history, science, and business and that book hit that mark for me.

The idea I can't stop thinking about is that there are eras to innovation and that during these eras everyone from the politicians to science fiction authors to Hollywood to the average citizen is obsessed with the possibility of the thing that is advancing most rapidly in that era.

In the 19th and 20th century, the obsession was transportation. Developing engines, planes, road systems, the focus was on transportation. And it was consequently when the biggest leaps happened. Humanity went from horses to 747s crossing the sky, But after about 1950/1960, the advances in transportation have been minimal for the last 60 years. I can't hop on a plane and get to London faster than my grandpa could in 1950. In fact, in the time of the Concorde, it was possible to travel faster then it is even now and that was 40 years ago!

So, there were these insane, unimaginable leaps from the 19th century speculations that if the human body accelerated above 8mph, the brain would be pushed back in the skull killing them instantly. To the grandsons of those writers who were flying in planes at 200+ miles per hour, crossing oceans.

Once the era ends, the progress levels off to almost no progress and population tends to not really care as much.

After the transportation age came the information age. And what the author hypothesized that I can't stop thinking about is that we are at the end of the informaiton age. Basically Moore's law is approaching the point where the transistor is reaching its atomic limits. So the increase in computation will taper off but it's happening right as it's getting good enough to power the artificial intelligence

The age we are likely to enter next is the biological age. Ozempic, adderall, cancer cures, Bryan Johnson.

I'm reading a sci fi book right now (called Theft of Fire by Devon Eriksen) that was published in 2023 and that's a huge focus in this book is the biological. The wealthy are able to modify their genes or take drugs or get surgery such that they are all perfectly fit, tall, not an imperfection on thier body.

Elon Musk's company Neuralink implanted a chip in a guy's brain and he is able to think and control his computer. So the merging of the biological and the manmade is coming too. The last step in increasing levels of communication is that we all have a chip in our brain where our thoughts are shared constantly with the internet and instantly. So within a few years, there might recreational versions of this tech available.

We are probably in the final decade of the Information Age and the dawning of the Biological Age. SCoh9fqhxiCxX8w84iMMoViDBDgwJa