In twenty years time there would be a major in universities called protein engineering. Humans finally get to build organic material as they wish and that in turn would revolutionize our lives even further. Starting from genome they design proteins that are machinery of life. That in turn would open the living cells to all kind of restructuring with consequences for our health and longevity.
Perhaps tinkering with life and living cell naturally comes before tinkering with brain and neurons reaches to full fruition. These all would have increasing returns as enhancements in lifespan and cognitive power will bring even more breakthroughs and faster progress. Next leap would be towards cosmos engineering as has been contemplated by others.
Assuming we survive a calamity of our own making or otherwise, our species empowered by bioengineering and cognitive prosthetics and other advanced technologies eventually will take on redesigning the cosmos at large. We know that our companion star has a limited lifetime and our planet won’t likely survive the tumultuous end of sun. First order of business would be either to change the sun’s evolutionary track and stop it from becoming a red giant or abandon the ship (earth) and migrate to another planet! Technically before that one has to mindful of menacing comets and meteorites.
It seems that life that once was brought to this planet one way or another (even if life started on earth, the chemical building blocks of life like carbon and oxygen are ashes left after the deaths of generation of stars that existed before the sun) would return to cosmos! Meanwhile our descendants will keep wondering what is the meaning of this all and how it came about and where it will end. I bet still there would philosophers and clergy that will come up with absurd mythological answers to such inquiries. The latter not only will make a living out of it but manipulates the gullible to his end! Hopefully in the new planet no one claims any divine rights on a piece of land! 🙂
