The 'Merica Thread

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Oberon

You know, it's funny...and permit me to derail the thread a little bit here, but a long time ago (over a century) H.G. Wells created my favourite novel, the War of the Worlds, and in it he described the Martians in a manner in which he believed that humanity would one day evolve into, a bulk which was composed mostly of brain and used machines for its mobility and construction. One could argue that our evolution has transferred from physical (although it is true that we are now much taller than we were even two hundred years ago) to mechanical as we rely more and more on machines to increase our productivity.
Personally, I would contend that the 'future' put forward in Wall-E (which I really must get around to watching) would be one that would be augmented (pardon the pun) with a virtual world in a manner similar to that of the Matrix, where our physical forms and abilities can be anything we wish them to be while our real body is maintained by machines. Some might say that I watched the Matrix trilogy too much, but there is definitely a trend towards a life within a life, MMORPGs for example, or even just being able to take a walk through a forest or experience nature which may not be available with an advanced rate of urban growth.
If anything, one could argue that our bodies are currently our greatest weakness, certainly in the case of Professor Hawking who possesses a brilliant mind but a weak body, if that mind were removed from the body its genius would be preserved for eternity free from decay.
Some would call it paradise...others, myself included, would call it hell, so it's certainly something that is not for everyone.
It's something to consider, there are some exciting times ahead, and what we consider the norm today will likely be quite antiquated in the future.

I think you're on to something there...

Erm...right...quick...need something relevant...errr...Yes?

Good one.