The Vision of Infinity: Humanity's Grand Project for the Next Three Decades
I am grateful for human progress. I am grateful for the world of abundance I was born into. I am grateful for the hundreds of generations of forebears who scraped out an existence in a harsh world with stubborn eternal hopes that were ultimately, improbably redeemed. Billions of people persevered through hell so I could live in heaven. Countless generations planted and harvested in cold, gray, wet Northern Europe so I could make a living with my mind instead of my hands in sunny Southern California.
What kind of world will we leave to future generations? What will the world look like in 2050? It’s hard to say because dreaming about a better future has become an embarrassingly quaint and earnest thing to do. There aren’t many vivid futures on offer, but there seem to be two main visions in the West.
They can be summarized as the vision of infinity and the vision of zero. We can boost humanity to reach the stars, as Elon Musk advocates, or smash humanity back down to Earth and a low-impact, local, humble pre-modern existence, as Greta Thunberg preaches. If we can have a world of abundance, we should strive for it. Judging by what humanity has achieved in the last few hundred years, there is no question that we can.
The first step to creating a better world is imagining a better world. What does the world look like in 2030, 2040, and 2050 if we do it right? How about just more? More of what makes for a high standard of living. Faster, more autonomous ground and air transportation. Abundant energy. Cleaner air and water. Higher quality, more spacious housing. Less crime, more security. These are pretty obvious, but we are used to being told we can’t have nice things, that we have to sacrifice for the sake of Mother Nature. Maybe we just need to dream bigger.
Humanity’s grand project for the next three decades can be seeing how much we can improve human life while also improving the state of the planet. First, we had the era of rapid technological progress and little consideration for or knowledge of externalities from the 1800s to about 1970. In the last half-century, we’ve reigned in technology and succeeded in making the world very safe. Now it’s time to loosen up the constraints while maintaining sensible regulations. Let’s see what we can do. Let’s see how great we can make the world for those who come after us.