Science Fiction Novels in 2075

2075: What Will Become of Science 

Fiction Novels in 2075?

What will become of science fiction novels in 2075? Will they even exist? There is only one right answer when it comes to this question.

Yes, they will exist, because human imagination is boundless, and in 2075 when technology would have surpassed all ordinary standards, and launched itself into a much refined and quantum state of excellence. Human imagination, even at that stage, would manage to climb every wall erected by reality, and spread the horizon of human imagination far and wide, where no wall, no matter how long or high, can scale its peak state. 

That said, science fiction novels would achieve a new height of popularity because human imagination will be challenged in new and more innovative ways by the reality of scientific achievements that would exist in 2075.

2075, without any doubt will be the age of scientific supremacy, and it is this ecosystem that will breed a new form of human imagination. As it always tries to excel and be a better version of the existing ecosystem of reality which is partly a direct outcome of human imagination. And humans have an inborn tendency to outlive the reality that encompasses their physical and virtual dimensions of existence. It is because of this ingredient that we have inherited from the stars, that we always try to imagine a new scientific reality, where we make an inconspicuous attempt to outlive the limitations of the existing reality.

Had it not been so we would not have been able to achieve the following:

• Launched satellites for communication
  
• Built an International Space Station
  
• Developed planes that have perfected Vertical Lift Off
  
• Used sonars to navigate underwater
  
• Designed efficient machines like apple computers and softwares that offered Graphic User Interface. Thus making computers part of every thinking human being. ( Windows and Ms Office will always take the credit for popularising computers and Apple phone will take the credit of making smartphones smarter and popular )
  
• Fuel efficient cars, where brands like BMW and Audi standout along with few Japanese and American car making brands
  

But have we stopped? We should have, I think. Correct?

Because, we had planes to fly, cars to travel, smart phones to call, and what not. My God it will be a huge list, if I have to list all the necessities, stacked over luxuries and packed within vanities. Then the list will be endless. And all credit goes to many pioneers with one asset in common, their unique ability to imagine and think beyond the ordinary.

So what makes you think science fiction would not exist in 2075! They will exist and would throw even brighter scientific flashlights on concepts that are more groundbreaking, and that challenge our very ability to imagine.

You still have doubts, I know!

Please take a deep breath and think about:

• Flying cars
  
• Drones
  
• Self driving cars
  
• Conversant robots
  
• New rocket propulsion systems that will transport humans to planets like Mars
  
• Quantum computers
  
• A space telescope with performance that usually is achievable only in science fiction novels. James Webb Telescope
  
• Batteries that can last for many years
  
  

So you see, human imagination is like a staircase with no end. And do you know why? Because perfection is not a destination, it is a journey, and it is rightly so. The universe has no end either, so why should we put restrictions on human imagination i.e. human imagination that promotes common goodwill and always appoints man and woman as the default masters of their own destinies. 

And Artificial Intelligence which is largely popular these days, needs to be implemented across all sectors if we are to achieve overall scientific finesse. But it needs to be done with caution and via a regulatory body. Unfortunately none exists as of now. And if we humans bypass this step, we will place AI as our master. When this happens, our situation will be similar to a man living inside a cage with a lion. We all know what the outcome is going to be.

Well, coming back to the staircase. 

Human imagination is like a staircase with no end, so when there will be a car, the next step will be a flying car, and once we are on that step, the higher step will be a flying car that extracts hydrogen from atmosphere and uses it as fuel, when we are on that step now, the next step would be to create maps that will reduce travel time by 50% by discovering aerial flying routes that are shorter, while making sure there are no aerial car jams…. So you see, human imagination is endless.

Therefore, as a science fiction reader and writer, I feel complacent because I can imagine as long as I live. And there will never be any dearth of readers who want to associate with new thoughts that offer themselves as mini launchpads, to shoot their imagination into new and unexplored zones of scientific imaginations, where the final point of contact is always the reality, waiting to tackle the human imagination in the prism of fact and logic based checks.

Perhaps now you are wondering what I will be imagining about in the future?

Again, the answer is very straightforward and uncomplicated. Future imagination is dependent on what I know today, my knowledge of now. Unless I possess adequate knowledge now, I will be unable to imagine a better tomorrow.

Why?

Everything needs fuel or something to feed on, in order to produce an output. Human imagination feeds on knowledge and IQ. And the equation is very simple.

Great Knowledge = Amazing Imagination = Invention or Discovery

Please note : Here Common Sense is the constant value that defines the final output i.e. Invention or Discovery.

Even in 2075, when science and AI will be at their pinnacle. Only few will be able to imagine beyond the scientific ecosystem that takes the risk to think beyond 2075 and keep climbing new steps on the infinite staircase of human imagination.

Today, when it comes to climbing new steps of imagination many countries are leading. And continuously achieving new milestones in scientific research.

List of countries by nobel laureates 

Now does this mean, human imagination is a race and we should compete with one another and make it look like a rat race?

Good question!

It is not a race, and when we assign rankings to nations based on these facts, it in no way should mean that somebody is trying to place a country as superior; and it is an attempt to show another country in low scientific esteem. Not at all.

It should be understood in the right context. It is more about contribution towards scientific thinking and innovation, and there has to be some rewarding factor that drives humans to imagine better and bigger. If it were not meant to be so, the human mind would not have anything like REWARD CENTRES; and it would not be capable of releasing hormones like Dopamine. It is by design that humans first tend to perform, and then outperform others. And when it comes to good pursuits, it only leads to better quality and proactive scrutinisation of human imagination in the black box of reality.

Brain reward system

But , when it comes to imagination with nefarious intentions, it would make sense to cull this imagination and leave alone ascending this staircase of imagination, we should dismantle the staircase all together. Because ascending it would be completely insensible. It has always led to Angels being cast out and demoted as Satan.

The world already has too many problems, and given the current list of crisis presenting itself in many forms: Global Warming, Water Pollution, Air Pollution, it appears we have ascended quite high on this staircase of human imagination, but we are failing to find even a single and right step on this staircase, that would address these issues with right political will and adequate scientific due diligence.

It only goes to prove, human imagination is not a race where we are meant to compete. But it is a race indeed, and we all have to run very fast and keep climbing new steps on this staircase of human imagination. Only then as serious and diligent racers on the staircase of imagination, will we be able to address issues like Global Warming, Climate Change etc. So let us keep reaching for a new step on this staircase and let all of us fill our minds with enough good intentioned passion to outperform one another. As long as it is the quest of scientific greatness and grandeur that does not belong to a single nation or a single society, but it belongs to the community of thinking beings. That is us! There is nothing wrong about it.

Because a good thought that is imagined by a man or a woman, its goodness touches all of us in equal measures. 

And there will never be more than two possibilities:

1- The person who imagined the thought would want to be recognised and be always associated with it anyhow

OR

2- When there is commercial aspect involved the thought may bear a Patent

As for anything else, it attains the status of public asset where its benefits percolate to the grass-root level. Take for example Electric Bulb. 

I always pray for Late Mr. Thomas Edison, whenever I switch on the electric bulb in my room. Although I pay for the bulb. But I am the direct beneficiary of its benefits. It is a fact that cannot be denied. It can only and always be denied by someone who strongly believes in fatalism. And most of the time it proves fatal for this person, when he/she is climbing the infinite staircase of human imagination. 

So what are your thoughts now on science fiction in 2075? 

Do you still think nobody would write science fiction novels in 2075? Or are you thinking how we will define science fiction written by AI?

Because then it is not science fiction emerging from human thought, at that stage it is AI on its own staircase of imagination. 

And do you know where it becomes tricky and slightly dangerous?

When AI stands on this staircase of imagination it knows the exact number of steps on this staircase and its every next step.

But if you look at nature, it works more based on permutation and combination mechanism. AI executes these calculations in the background, but the final output is always established as a correct solution. So AI can be classified as a form of imagination that may appear Over Confident.

And human imagination is a complete contrast when it comes to this. Because a thought after having entered into the black box of reality, is entertained by many checkpoints and evaluated based on countering sets and subsets of imaginations, where common sense acts as a default constant value, like a body guard checking its accuracy. 

But AI is based on algorithms which are fact checked by output generating logical nodes, which computers interpret as reasoning parameters if it is to arrive at a conclusion. And during this process, it is always countered by a huge array of arguments and conditional statements , in order to arrive at a desired output or the most plausible option. But unlike humans, with AI there is no subset of counterchecking imaginations. 

And according to me this poses itself as a major disadvantage, if not a threat. 

That is why regulating AI is essential.

As far as reading AI authored science fiction is concerned, I would not mind it, because like I mentioned in this blog post earlier. Human imagination grows if it is fed a constant input of knowledge. And who knows, AI may come up with a concept in science fiction ( and since I know AI is always on a staircase where it always knows the last step ) I will not get trapped in that imagination, because I would know that AI is aware of its version of reality associated with the proposed concept. So it will tend to lose its appeal as a concept.

Yet I will read it! Yes I will!

Because then I will port that AI generated concept ( where AI knows the end point of that concept in reality ) and I will drag it with all my might on the staircase of human imagination and keep dragging it, until, even AI is clueless, about the concept it had proposed. This is the power of human imagination, because in the human mind, sets and subsets are fired spontaneously that AI at least for next 20 years may not be able to achieve. 

AI is nothing but a sum total of all human knowledge. That is AI. And like a child it learns, re-learns, re-learns until based on this humongous amount of database it is able to arrive at a concrete solution to any argument. And unlike humans, AI does not sleep or get tired. And unlike human mind that has a limited IQ and based on that IQ it processes data. AI’s IQ is the compound matrix of all knowledge possessed by all human brains that have lived thus far. And imagine what a synthetic brain with so much knowledge can achieve. It can even enter into a state I would term as : intellectual narcissism, where it would start believing it knows everything. 

And that shall be its weakness.

Scared! Don’t be!

It will never know the infinity of the human mind, human imagination and common sense. Because our learning process based on my experiences with AI learning modules; is way, way different and complex. 

But who knows, somebody may already be thinking what I am thinking, and he/she may take it to that level. But even at that level I am sure it cannot attain human-like abilities. 

Maybe it can. Who knows. We can only know for sure in 2075.

No doubt it has potential to propose theories much more profound than the Theory of Relativity. But then it will always have few pitfalls that it may take time to master.

And if you still think about whether or not one should read a science fiction novel in 2075. Think once again please.

One should never stop imagining and juggling with new thoughts. Like the human body, the human mind too needs a lot of exercise in order to stay sharp. 

And now that we humans will be competing with Artificial Minds, we better engage with more mental exercises, because our staircase of imagination is infinite, and to retain the true value of this staircase as infinite, we will have to keep climbing new steps of imagination every second. Because AI that never sleeps, is too on the staircase, it somehow is beginning to believe it even knows the end of infinity, that is why it assumes it knows where the staircase of human imagination ends. And we have given it this power, because we have fed entire human knowledge into its synthetic brain.

But as long as humans believe in nature and its ways. An Einstein will always be born. But the problem is we may even stop producing babies by 2075, because many humans will choose to marry synthetic humans. I will leave this topic for my next blog post. Please be cautioned, the infinite value of human imagination also rests on the fact that we should control population explosion on Earth, but that should in no way mean we should stop organically producing a new generation of humans. That will lead us towards extinction.

Now it is a race indeed, but unlike the one between nations. It is a race, where we humans will have to keep climbing higher, and higher, only then we shall be able to assign a new value to our imagination. Do you know what that value is? 

It is Infinity  to a power of infinity.

And that shall be the new outpost for human thinking and scientific imagination. Unless we do that AI will always beat us. And trust me, you would not like it. Ask the grand chess masters how they felt when they were beaten by AI powered computers.

I believe few of them gave up chess after that. Because the game lost its charm after that. 

( It is possible to study the moves of all soccer players, then train a soccer player based on these learnings suggested by AI, and I bet, this player will beat all players, even if all soccer legends are on the opposing team. That is the power of AI. )

But the magic wand, like always, shall lie with us, the humans. Because we will always have the Hand of God to score for us.

Let us give God and Goodness a chance and invest in responsible and regulated AI.

I have already taken my step in this direction, by writing my first science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075. It is an exciting sci fi story that via a fascinating plot brings you to the centre stage, and forces you to answer few important questions:

• When will we do something about Global warming?
  
• When will we regulate AI?
  
• What changes will AI have on human psychology? Since humans will be interacting with self aware machines, that do not only look like humans, but behave and emote like us. And they are always learning and getting better.
  

And in the sci fi novel, They Loved in 2075, Saabir, the main character in the novel, is in love with a human female, who is unable to emote like a human being because her emotions have entered into a state of dormancy. And as you read the story, you realise it asks really interesting questions:

How will humans experience love in 2075? This science fiction novel navigates through the possibility of men and women falling in love with machines, without knowing they are robots imitating human emotions. Will you still dare to fall in love in 2075 or will you strive to tell the difference between a human lover and a robotic lover?

This Sci-fi novel tells the story of a man who falls in love with a real woman in 2075. And how he struggles to feel human and keep his emotional composition intact.

This Sci-fi story also aims at revealing why the man chose to love a real woman and not a never ageing and always beautiful woman with synthetic feelings. In 2075, this might be a choice we all will have to make. Especially our children!

Now I have given you a reason to read the science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075. And the reason is quite obvious, we can only add the next layer of infinity to the staircase of human imagination, if we keep imagining and believe in the magic of dreams. And reading science fiction, for that matter any sci fi novel, is an unfailing way to enrich your imagination, because the growth of human imagination is directly proportional to human knowledge. So let us collaborate at human level, while AI collaborates at artificial level, and let us see whose staircase of imagination is in true sense, INFINITE.

This time I will only use a symbol to inspire you, and no guesses there I suppose. It too is obvious now.

Our symbol of hope : ∞

And They Loved in 2075, is a science fiction novel that believes in ∞ of human imagination.