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Thinkers forecast the end for money and the written word

By ROGER HIGHFIELD in London

The death of reading, the end of money and the continuing appeal of religion are among the most important untold stories of the age, according to a recently published survey of influential thinkers.

In response to the question "what is today's most unreported story?" more than 60 leading scientists and science writers replied with answers including the failure of the population timebomb to explode and the coming ability of scientists to remodel the human body.

The findings are contained in an Internet survey conducted by John Brockman, a New York agent and writer.

One of those who responded was Keith Devlin of Stanford University, who warns of the impending death of the paragraph. The increasing use of computer generated illustrations and diagrams will gradually do away with the need for writing, he says, resulting in the majority of humans being unable to handle anything more demanding than a sentence.

Other responses were:

 The enduring vitality of the more moderate kinds of religion despite the march of science. According to Professor Freeman Dyson of the Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton, religions increasingly provide the glue that holds societies together, providing a form of equality between economic winners and losers.

 The dramatic fall in the rate of growth in global population. Peter Schwartz, chairman of Global Business Network, says the "horror stories" of world population reaching 20 or even 50 billion circulating only a few years ago had apparently proved unfounded. The total was expected to reach only 10 or 11 billion by mid-century.

 The coming ability to remodel human life, from slowing the ageing process to altering intelligence. Professor Steven Quartz, of the California Institute of Technology, argues: "Feasible technologies to retool human life will put us face to face with the basic dilemma of deciding what it means to be human within two decades."

 The end of money. Thomas Petzinger of The Wall Street Journal, reminds us that: "Today most of the money in the world isn't even made of paper, much less metal. It exists as binary digits."

 People changing into machines. Professor Rodney Brookes, director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, argues that cochlea (hearing) implants, artificial retinas, silicon chips covered with networks of nerve cells and other devices will result in a "merger between flesh and machines".

 Most people are reasonably happy most of the time, and average levels of subjective well-being are largely unrelated to wealth or social status, says David Lykken of the University of Minnesota, who claims that well-being is half determined by genetics and half by circumstance.

 Female infanticide. "In China so many baby girls have been murdered by their parents that the population has become measurably asymmetric," says Paul Davies, a science writer. "Although this shocking practice is widely known, few people have spoken out against it. Since the deaths run into several millions, the effect is numerically comparable to some of the world's worst acts of genocide."

- The Daily Telegraph

-- snooze button (alarmclock_2000@yahoo.com), January 10, 2000

Answers

Vern, here is a link to Inkspot. I think you will enjoy browsing there. Make it a bookmark.

Inkspot Link

-- snooze button (alarmclock_2000@yahoo.com), January 10, 2000.

...thanx buddy, nothing like a good converstion. I was a "doomer" for 10 months. Thanks to God, we have been spared. Why the other doomers refuse to see how He revealed Himself this way, and accept the miracle that many of us prayed for, I do not know. I guess there are those that would not see God if they were sitting right next to Him. Bookmarked!!!!! Take care!

-- Vern (bacon17@ibm.net), January 11, 2000.

>> The end of money. Thomas Petzinger of The Wall Street Journal, reminds us that: "Today most of the money in the world isn't even made of paper, much less metal. It exists as binary digits."<<

That is why the threat of Y2K is still so formidable and can collapse the system through banking, stockmarket and business transactional glitches. If things become serious enough, binary digits will evaporate along with everything they are dependent upon. As for miracles and God, I believe in both and have experienced such firsthand. And While I'm grateful nothing major has occured openly on a national or global scale, most expert information reported even in mainstream media indicates the need to still wait, and that the effects of Y2K glitches wouldn't even become apparent until mid January and beyond. Such facts have been amply posted by myself and others, taken from prominent newspapers and quotable sources. Quite frankly, this has just all begun, which should become obvious over the course of the next several weeks (unfortunately). There no longer is anything such as "doomers" or "pollies", but "watchers", who are all of us, who need to continue to do just that. The reason why it SEEMS that nothing is really going on is for this very reason, and because most problems are not going to be reported by mainstream sources for insurance, political and "bubble.com" reasons. As for the future, I believe the Bible lays out a specific scenerio of events just on the horizon of which Y2K seems to fit perfectly. It's called the seven year "Great Tribulation" where all money and bartering will be replaced by a form of "mark" inserted into the hand or forehead, ushering in the reign of a ruthless world dictator until Jesus Christ returns to establish his millennial kingdom. The abolition of binary digits would be the first step toward the implementation of such a "world order" through self-containing chips making such a previous system obsolete. Y2K may still be the missing piece which allows that to come together fairly quickly. For those who doubt this, keep watching, as some day you may recall these words. As for now, this forum acts as a true watchman for unfolding events.

-- Patrick Lastella (Lastella1@aol.com), January 11, 2000.