Quotes About Progress

In the future, however, we may see real gaps in physical and cognitive abilities opening between an upgraded upper class and the rest of society.

The governmental tortoise cannot keep up with the technological hare.

Science needs more than just research to make progress. It depends on the mutual reinforcement of science, politics and economics.

The human collective knows far more today than did the ancient bands. But at the individual level, ancient foragers were the most knowledgeable and skilful people in history.

Unfortunately, the Sapiens regime on Earth has so far produced little that we can be proud of. We have mastered our surroundings, increased food production, built cities, established empires and created far-flung trade networks. But did we decrease the amount of suffering in the world?

To run fast, don't take much baggage with you. Leave all your illusions behind. They are very heavy.

Modernity is a surprisingly simple deal. The entire contract can be summarised in a single phrase: humans agree to give up meaning in exchange for power.

If we are not careful, we will end up with downgraded humans misusing upgraded computers to wreak havoc on themselves and on the world.

Religions that lose touch with the technological realities of the day lose their ability even to understand the questions being asked.

Seventy thousand years ago, Homo sapiens was still an insignificant animal minding its own business in a corner of Africa. In the following millennia it transformed itself into the master of the entire planet and the terror of the ecosystem. Today it stands on the verge of becoming a god, poised to acquire not only eternal youth, but also the divine abilities of creation and destruction.

Ordinary people may not understand artificial intelligence and biotechnology, but they can sense that the future is passing them by.

Our once green and blue planet is becoming a concrete and plastic shopping centre.

A common enemy is the best catalyst for forging a common identity, and humankind now has at least three such enemies - nuclear war, climate change, and technological disruption.

Since humans are individuals, it is difficult to connect them to one another and to make sure that they are all up to date.

In truth, so far modern medicine hasn't extended our natural life span by a single year. Its great achievement has been to save us from premature death, and allow us to enjoy the full measure of our years.

The cold hand of the past emerges from the grave of our ancestors, grips us by the neck and directs our gaze towards a single future. We

Unfortunately, history does not give discounts.

By 2050, not only the idea of a job for life but even that of a profession for life might seem antediluvian.

Maybe one of our biggest problems is that different human groups have completely different futures.

This is the deep reason secular people cherish scientific truth: not in order to satisfy their curiosity, but in order to know how best to reduce the suffering in the world.

If somebody describes to you the world of the mid twenty-first century and it sounds like science fiction, it is probably false. But then if somebody describes to you the world of the mid twenty-first century and it doesn't sound like science fiction – it is certainly false. We cannot be sure of the specifics, but change itself is the only certainty.

Homo sapiens does its best to forget the fact, but it is an animal. And it is doubly important to remember our origins at a time when we seek to turn ourselves into gods.

How did wheat convince Homo sapiens to exchange a rather good life for a more miserable existence? What did it offer in return? It did not offer a better diet. Remember, humans are omnivorous apes who thrive on a wide variety of foods. Grains made up only a small fraction of the human diet before the Agricultural Revolution. A diet based on cereals is poor in minerals and vitamins, hard to digest, and really bad for your teeth and gums.

Artificial intelligence is now poised to surpass human intelligence.