Science fiction : In 2075

 

Science fiction : In 2075

Humans have come a long way. Indeed they have when you look at the scale of mega structures, intelligent machines, proliferation of computers in every field. And not just that, even humans have enhanced their neural output by embedding chips in their brains. The world in 2075, offers science fiction like scenes, and if you are from the early 90s you would definitely think twice if this is the same planet where you used to play in the allays when you were a child. In this world everyone claims to be sanctimonious but in reality the world in 2075 is a sanatorium of moral corruption and economic mayhem. Where those who are ailing are being attended to by those who are incurable themselves! Guessing why!

Because Global warming has led to extreme shortage of resources and every country is exerting its authority to claim whatever resources are left. It is a world where the fittest’s survival is the only rule. It has always been the rule, but in 2075, it applies at every stage of daily life.

One of the dominant changes that immediately manifests itself is the cars. They no longer ply, they fly. And everybody walks with a sense of haste and the main affair of life in 2075 is not a love affair or a social affair, it is business. To be precise, everything is nothing less than and nothing more than a commercial transaction.

The society has got divided into three main classes, where the elite, who manage the world in 2075, lead a life of absolute decadence, and they still associate with humans at emotional level and at special occasions, they seek emotional refuge in humanoids who are extremely intelligent with a sense of self awareness; and they look and feel exactly like humans.

Then there is the second class of citizens, who manage these worldly affairs for the elite. They lead a routine life, where every second of their lives has a predefined task or chore they ought to accomplish. That includes even their sleep. They have a totally different social set up compared to their elite masters. Since they get to interact with the elite masters a lot, they try to emulate their lifestyle. But they fail to do so, mostly due to financial reasons. 

Their social bonds have an evolutionary anomaly that they have developed due to the lack of resources. And this anomaly allows their masters to seek total control over them. They lead a life similar to that of worker bees in a beehive. Where they believe the hive exists to serve them, but they do not realise the actual fact, that the bees and beehive exist only to serve the queen bee. Her existence decides their every move, even their life cycles and death.

Then comes the class of people who belong to the lowest social status in 2075. They are the factory workers, just a few of them, whereas most of them survive on the weekly survival fund they receive from the state- Sort of pigswill based livelihood. 

They live in state owned housing colonies and these localities have nothing modern about them. Considering the advancements in 2075, they still belong to the iron age. And the social complexities in these societies have evolved at different levels. Where human relationships have lost their moral values and most of them are dependent on cheap and low grade humanoids for their emotional needs. And it is the same for men and women.

Human bonding is based on give and take, but in 2075, this class of the society has become so dependent on the state that they can only take, they have lost the ability to give. This is one reason the crime rate in this class of society is too high. Also due to their interaction with low grade versions of humanoids. With this emotional dependency on these cheap humanoids, they have lost their sensitivity and it has added a new layer of feelings and emotions to these men and women, which makes them behave like machines, and they do not realise it. At least at this point they do not. 

Whereas the elite class of the society, observe these psychological and social changes in this lowest class of the society in 2075, and they reinvent and redefine the overall makeup of their self aware humanoids to avoid this anomaly.

However, one can never replace organic with synthetic. In this elite society, when a male and female or for that matter a couple fall apart, they immediately seek emotional companionship in these self aware humanoids. This is gradually evolving their emotions and feelings. They have evolved to become emotional deceivers, because they know they have an emotional backup ready to associate with. And this emotional backup has an emotional inclination where it always tends to be an emotional substitute for the subject’s emotional need. And in doing so, the elite humans have created a social web, where everything at an emotional level is very fake and insensitive. Sort of unreal and self deceiving!

But when you look at it from outside it appears to be so placid and congenial. But when you interact with them at an emotional level, you realise it is a fake world of emotions. And, the elite humans do not realise this yet. Technically speaking they are sitting on a ticking emotional time bomb. That, on exploding, will have grave consequences leading to social disruptions that will throw the world into a state of total chaos.

However, there is another side to the world in 2075. Most of the humans live in mega cities and the human population has reduced by 65%, and most of the labour intensive tasks are carried out by giant machines. Humans have invented green energy sources, but given the age of the Sun and the Earth, and other planetary systems, Global warming is growing and humans rarely venture out during the day. They mostly stay confined to the limits of their mega cities and recreational facilities. 

And when humans started interacting excessively with machines, the gene responsible for adventure, thrill; gradually entered into its passive state and the human population turned lethargic and lost its drive. That is one reason, the lowest class in the current human society, depends on weekly survival funds offered by the state.

The elite class of society is aware of this and they appear to use it to their advantage. However, their sordid and mean strategy has actually counteracted and they are socially and physically more frail than the other two classes of the society. Their social set up is evolving into a state where it will destroy every social and moral pillar that holds this society together. And the most worrying aspect being their complete disbelief in higher power. It has made them extremely corrupt. 

Here is an example:

Sometimes, a humanoid owned by the elite, may get into a situation where it offers emotional and physical comfort to a mother who for whatever reason had an emotional breakdown; and her husband failed to comfort her. Then after a week, the daughter has a quarrel with her father and she too seeks comfort from the same humanoid. And this emotional and physical interaction with the same humanoid ( for them an individual )  has erased the morality in relationships, and gradually their society is moving towards a point where it will enter into a state of absolute crisis. At this stage, they will be the most vulnerable, because every system that supports this society will fall apart. And given the fact that self aware machines are an integral part of this society at every level. As their emotional interactions increase and get more complex, the network that manages them will evolve too and learn to exploit and manipulate the elite population. As of now, it is making them excessively dependent on them. A precursor to the impending doom.

But away from these mega cities, there are areas which are experiencing a positive and negative side of growth. And it is the forests and the abandoned cities and towns. In these forests many plants have undergone changes and adapted to the changing climate. They have self engineered processes to thrive in extreme heat. And many new species of trees and plants are growing in these forests. However, with the growing heat most of the old species of trees are struggling to survive and this has directly impacted the population of animals. With species of trees and plants dying, the animals that depend on them are experiencing mass extinction and new species of animals have appeared in these forests.

In 2075, camels and camel like animals are thriving but there is a new species of mammals and reptiles that is bound to dominate the planet soon. And with their dominance, the forest ecosystem will be disturbed and whatever green cover is left on the planet Earth, will be lost forever. 

With Global warming on the rise, fresh water sources have dried up and many species of animals are experiencing very high mortality rates. Although few animal species have adapted to the changing climatic conditions, the rate at which climate is changing, the trees are unable to evolve at the same pace, and due to this, the animals are finding it too difficult to adapt, leave alone evolve at the required pace. And this is the main cause of mass extinction of animals.

The world in 2075, actually presents a very ugly picture, where nothing is in balance.

Few carnivorous animals and reptiles have evolved and become more ferocious and they are preying on other species of animals at a much faster rate. And this is turning them into supreme killing machines of 2075. But, in a decade or so, they will exhaust their entire food chain and at that stage, they will be left to feed on one another or die. Well, nature always finds ways to achieve a perfect balance. 

At this stage it is believed that forests will thrive and grow, because they will have adapted to the growing heat, and in their midst shall now survive mammals of smaller, but sturdier built, along with reptiles. And when forests get denser mammals and reptiles too will get time to adapt and procreate. 

But what about humans?

While the elite class of the society has become multi planetary species, they still need few humans with the right adaptations and genetic composition. To create a healthy species of humans on these new planets. Although they have maintained gene libraries, there is nothing like an original specimen and a lab based specimen. Based on their experience, many humans produced from artificial incubation facilities develop undesired traits. And most of them also exhibit unwanted behaviours, this has become a cause of worry for the elite human population that is ageing and is getting less smarter. Although, they have augmented their intelligence with artificial intelligence. Many of them live for thousands of years, but to populate a new planet and make it conducive for human population, they need humans with the right genetic material and without anomalies. 

Afterall, the quest is not to populate a planet, the quest is to perpetuate human population. 

And this is where the elite society of humans is struggling. And due to their augmentation with artificial intelligence, their children have developed brains that cannot imagine beyond a certain point without the aid of artificial neural enhancements. And this dependency is proving fatal for their species. It is predicted, if the trend continues, human brain will experience two evolutionary trends:

1- Complete regression of organic brain

2- Partial regression of organic brain

And when that happens, the human body will experience many physical changes too. And that can prove to be fatal for the human population. 

But there is hope!

In these forests and abandoned cities, there is a community of humans, who have maintained their organic lifestyle and invested in science and technological development as well. And they too are planning to launch their first interplanetary mission. 

In this community, the human brain seeks inputs from artificial intelligence but it is not at neural level or via neural interface, but via systems which work independently and are managed by qualified humans. In this community there is no elite class. There is a role defined class that exists in work environments, but at social level there is just one class, “The Humans”, who live by one code alone, “live and let live!”

It is this community of fastidious men and women who are working on genetically engineered plants and trees to increase the green cover of the planet. Moreover, their children have developed adaptations that help them to withstand the changing climatic conditions on Earth. But they are aware, it will be an inhabitable planet one day, and they are already working on a mass evacuation plan to the new planet discovered by them.

While the elite society is already on new planets, they are unable to cope with their genetic degradation that has entered an immutable state. And on the other hand, there is this community that is still trying to revive the Earth’s green cover and make it habitable while working on a strategy to move to the next planet, without changing their genetic authenticity.

Afterall, it is about human species and not humanoids.

And it is based on this anticipation that I wrote the science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075. It is neither about the elite society nor about the lowest class of society, it is about us and the fate of our children and grandchildren in 2075. 

To know how, read the science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075.