2007 |
Primitive,
free-standing robots available for certain simple household
tasks |
|
2010 |
Electricity-generating
leaf demonstrated |
Photo-voltaic
coatings can supplement and partly replace photo-synthesis,
generating electron flow in sap channels |
2012 |
The
first sentient robot demonstrated |
Sentient
in that it passed the 'Turing' test of being indistinguishable
in cognitive terms from a human |
2012 |
The
IMF and the World Bank become agencies
of the WTO |
The
market and charities had taken over their roles in exchange
rate management and developing country financing |
2014 |
First
demonstration of remote cognitive control via bionic
implant |
A
wireless transmitter connected to brain tissue can be used
by the owner to control a remote device |
2015 |
WIPO
transferred to the WTO from the UN |
The
WTO already provided dispute resolution for WIPO; this move
tidied up the situation given the galloping importance of
IP in trade terms. |
2015 |
Formation
of the World Association of Professionals |
The
demands of international business and expatriates caused professionals
to group together to lobby for supra-national standards and
judicial mechanisms. |
2015 |
Invention
of magnetic gravity brake |
Allowing
the controlled descent from orbit of a vehicle; both the vehicle
and the planet must have significant magnetic content |
2016 |
Machine
translation perfected |
About
100 written and spoken languages can be translated at machine
level; direct sensory input of translated language not yet
possible |
2017 |
Expansion
of the EU to 40 members |
Turkey,
the Ukraine, European Russia, Belarus, Montenegro, Serbia,
Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and four north African countries
join. |
2017 |
The
International Standards Organization
joins the WTO |
Another
obvious piece of global tidying up. |
2017 |
Planting
of first commercial-scale 'electric forest' |
With
immense investment driven by environmental alarm, the electricity-producing
leaf was very rapidly commercialized, along with other alternative
energy sources, many based on nano-technology. |
2018 |
The
Washington Accord; formation of the World Environmental Agency
|
A
global environmental treaty, at last. |
2018 |
Formation
of the World Educational Organization |
Opposed
by government and the teaching profession, the WEO was brought
into being by students, business schools and the 'international'
schools movement |
2019 |
The
World Environmental Organization and the OECD
join the WTO |
The
OECD now has control over all aspects of trade and commerce,
from a rule-making perspective, and substantial importance
in dispute resolution. |
2020 |
Universal
adoption of KISS technology |
Kontent
Identification and Subscription System, used to control access
to and the rewards from Intellectual Property; an Open Systems
Standard |
2020 |
Establishment
of the World Commercial Court |
Alongside
the WTO, but independent, the WCC (modelled on the ECJ) incorporates
pre-existing WTO Dispute Resolution Panels and a range of
commercial competencies taken over from national court systems. |
2020-2030 |
Establishment
of permanent Moon and Mars bases |
Nations
(the USA and China) in competition for
just about the last time |
2022 |
The
first bio-electronic self-replicating assembly demonstrated |
This
technology was to become the cornerstone of RCR development,
and in time, inter-stellar expansion |
2023 |
|
Universal
residence-based income tax introduced; all other international
taxation abolished; corporation tax abolished; national taxes
limited to VAT and carbon taxes |
2023 |
Primitive
RCRs developed |
At
first humans could control remote assemblies and accept sensory
input from them; only later came true 'inhabiting' of RCRs |
2025 |
The
'babelfish' cochlear implant commercially available |
Although
machine translation was already effectively perfect, it is
far more convenient to receive lexical content directly into
the brain |
2025 |
The
RCR Congress; Code of Conduct agreed |
RCR
technology evoked strong reactions from conservative forces. |
2025 |
The
Iran/Israeli War |
An
exchange of nuclear weapons killed more than 8 million people
throughout the Middle East |
2026 |
NAFTA
and the FTAA merge with Caricom |
The
assasination of Hugo Chavez in 2025 after 20 years of dictatorship
unlocked the door to regional governance (tariffs had disappeared
by 2020) |
2027 |
The
Decade of the People begins |
After
the Iran/Israeli war finally discredited nationalism as a
guiding principle of human governance, informed 'people-power'
became too strong to resist |
2027 |
The
first partial cognitive version of a human brain uploaded
into a bio-electronic assembly |
This
development eventually allowed the 'inhabiting' of an RCR
by a human; 2-way communication between the two remained imperfect
for many years |
2028 |
|
In
another reaction to the Iran/Israeli war, the powers of national
and global governance institutions were shaply delineated,
much to the benefit of global organizations |
2029 |
Canine
and feline RCRs become available |
And,
in due time, a bewildering variety of other types of non-human
companions |
2030 |
The
first global, universal electronic opinion poll |
Something
like 85% of humanity has access to the Internet, and governmental
organisations, whether global or national, are increasingly
influenced by electronic opinion polls |
2030 |
Discovery
of quantum transmission |
The
key invention (in a Chinese laboratory) needed to allow inter-stellar
travel. Certain mass-less elementary particles were discovered
to exist outside the laws of relativity and can be used to
transmit data instantaneously; massy receiving and transmitting
devices are needed, however. |
2037 |
The
first Non-Human Olympiad |
The
world of sportertainment rapidly adopted RCRs |
2037 |
China's
GDP equals that of America |
But
there are still four times as many Chinese as Americans. All
told, only 15% of the global population of 8 billion exists
below the poverty-line, and charity-based funds, topping US$500bn,
support many of them. |
2038 |
The
first experimental RCC (Remote Cognitive Collective) demonstrated |
Objections
to technological advancement of humans had largely evaporated
by this time; attention focused more on agreeing the protocols
that would be necessary if multiple human psyches co-inhabit
one collectivity |
2041 |
The
Euro adopted as a world currency |
Only
because the Americans and the Chinese, still bickering after
30 years, couldn't agree to step down; the Euro was the only
feasible alternative, and in point of fact had become the
dominant world currency in terms of assets |
2044 |
RCCs
enter general use |
After
the Human Settlement, the agreed-upon freedoms for RCC development
were rapidly exploited |
2050 |
The
Global Genetic Gathering formed as an RCC |
As
a delegate body with 387 members (the number of nations),
RCC technology was just up to the task of holding a 387-participant
discussion. |
2050 |
First
interstellar missions launched |
The
hardware was still a bit clunky, so that only 40% of the speed
of light could be achieved; by 2060, this had risen to 70%. |
2051 |
The
'Human Settlement' |
The
onrush of RCRs, RCCs and genetic transformation made it very
necessary to agree on ground rules for permitted degrees of
human and non-human variation |
2055 |
The
first full human brain ('eclone') operates remotely in a bio-electronic
assembly |
The
host human can transfer full cognitive operation to the eclone
- but there are problems with 'maintaining state' so that
eclone and host brain remain cognitively identical |
2057 |
The
World Union formed; it became an RCC in 2060 |
The
World Union is a democratic body, based on universal direct
voting; but there still is politics, working through intermediate
RCCs which crystallize points of view. |
2062 |
First
stellar colony established |
After
12 years, the first succesful colony was established at a
distance of 7 light years |
2070 |
Eclones
commercially available |
From
this time onwards, it was possible for people to switch back
and forth at will between different representations of themselves,
whether in RCRs, RCCs or just as e-clones; but back-up remained
cumbersome and imperfect |
2080 |
Introduction
of real-time, universal issue voting |
RCC
technology now allows an effectively infinite number of people
to participate in a decision-making process based on a multi-level
cognitive step sequence which agglomerates opinions and forms
a consensus - usually almost instantaneously |
2085 |
The
Japanese Earthquake |
2.8
billion unbacked-up human original bodies are lost |
2095 |
Real-time
eclone back-up perfected |
People
can now exist as eclones, using 'current-state' RCRs and RCCs
for interaction with the world and other people |
2100 |
The
tenth inter-stellar colony founded at 28 light years' distance
|
The
colonies are now providing a significant outlet for people
who find Terran life too insipid. Although their bodies may
remain on Earth, their e-clones and RCRs 'live' in space |
2110 |
Global
population stabilized at 20 billion |
Most
people spend most of their time electronically, and in many
cases dispense with their original bodies altogether |