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Although most of the sci-fi novelists are laughed at by people of that time, many of them are admired for the predictions they made which came true only few decades after. Looking back at some of the Jules Verne and H.G. Wells writings it would appear that today we are living in that futuristic world they predicted years ago. Verne most notably made predictions about sea and space travel while Wells predicted the nuclear bomb and the nature of warfare in the 20th century. It is said that after seeing the US bomb Japan with nuclear weapons the writer remarked that his epitaph should read “God damn you all I told you so.”

These first two sci-fi writers as we can see had a huge impact on future generations of scientists, engineers and technology professionals. In a sense, these two created the fictional worlds in which they wrote about by making people think about possibilities. Modern sub-marines are built very similar to Verne’s descriptions, the Apollo space capsule and mission and even its launch point are accurately depicted within his books. Wells predicted the aerial bombing of London, time as the fourth dimension, and even coined the term “atomic bomb”. Robert Oppenheimer claimed that he was inspired by H.G. Wells’ book “The World Set Free”. H.G. Wells wrote another book that predicts another up and coming event in our world that will change the creatures that live within it: “The Island of Dr. Moreau”.

However, according to many futurists such as Ray Kurzweil, fiction writers today are no longer able to think beyond the predicted “technological singularity” that many believe will occur in or around 2030. That is to say that the human mind can no longer comprehend how life could be beyond the next thirty years when taking into account the advancements we have made in the past few decades. An analysis of the history of technology shows that technological change is exponential, contrary to the common-sense “intuitive linear” view. So we won’t experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century — it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today’s rate). Within a few decades, machine intelligence will surpass human intelligence, leading to The Singularity — technological change so rapid and profound, it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history. The implications include the merger of biological and non-biological intelligence, immortal software-based humans, and ultra-high levels of intelligence that expand outward in the universe at the speed of light.

Today we are overwhelmed by the dwindling supplies of science fiction and more “fantasy” novels taking up bookstore shelf space. We see standard sci-fi topics such as cybernetic implants, mind reading, cloning, hybridization of species, commercial space travel, space stations, robotic explorers and helpers, instant communication around the world, cars that can drive themselves, clothes that can make you invisible, virtual reality, augmented reality, pilot-less fighter aircraft, creation of alternative energy, and on and on in the daily news as reality. It is happening all at once it seems. If technology is accelerating at the rate predicted then the next twenty years will be amazingly brilliant and frightening at the same time. Our generation’s children may have to make the decision to stay human, or to evolve beyond what they were born with.