The title says it all. I’ve already done a post of ten ideas that I think will come true that are from science fiction, so now for the things that I think won’t come true. Some of these are on this list because they are scientific impossibilities, and others are here because I believe that we’ll never do them (probably because it’s too damn stupid). So, here goes:
- FTL Travel
Unfortunately, I think Einstein was right. We can’t go faster than light. However, it’s quite possible alternatives will be created that technically move you faster than light, just not in the direct method we have right now (perhaps wormholes, which are allowed within Einstein’s theories, will become a part of all this). - Resurrecting Dinosaurs or Other Prehistoric Species
Firstly, let’s just assume that we can or will be able to resurrect dinos like in Jurassic Park or by some other method. Why would we? Really, why? There’s really no reason, beyond knowing we can do it, to bring back those long-extinct creatures.
But more to the point, I don’t think we’ll invest enough into this sort of thing to consider it. We can probably do it, or will be able to, but it’ll likely remain outside our reach because there’s just no reason to do it. Yeah, it would be cool to have a pet T-Rex, but science isn’t all about the cool. - Cure-All Pill/Shot/Genetic Manipulation
Okay, it’s entirely possible we will cure all the diseases we know about now, but I highly doubt we’ll ever have a one pill cure-all, nor do I believe we will genetically alter ourselves to be completely immune to all diseases, even new ones. New biological horrors show up all the time and there’s no way to have a pill that covers all bases, at least not without harming us more than the new diseases that might spring up will. I’d love this to be true, but I don’t see it. - Stable Global Government
No. Not going to happen. We might have some sort of semi-functional government, but short of wiping out half the planet there will always be people trying to knock things down. Global government has too many flaws. While we have a plethora of fantastic technologies that help us speak to one another from great distances, that won’t stop people from bickering and arguing. A global government will have more controversy than any localized government. It’s just too much work. It’s better to have a “collective” working for the same general goals, but entirely separate. - Answers to the Question
Yes, “the” question. Where did we come from? And since “the” question is different to everyone: Is there a god? (or) Did we really evolve from microbial lifeforms?
While we can say yes to that last one, I don’t know if we will ever be able to be 100% on it. As for the other stuff, well, let’s look at it this way. There’s no proof of God, so the likelihood that we’d find proof in the next bazillion years is really slim anyway (that likely won’t stop people from believing though). Then the first question is actually one of those endless cycle things. We may get more answers, but those answers will spark more questions, and so on. We’ll never really know where we came from or how we got here. We’ll just keep asking and finding answers, and asking again. - Television (that beams into your head)
This is just ridiculous. Why would we even want this? Really? I could be wrong and maybe we’ll have this, but I just don’t see a point. Maybe having it beam into your eye would be fine, but sitting on the couch and having some weird machine beam TV shows into your brain is just…stupid. That’s asking for trouble. - Forced Evolution (in species other than ourselves)
While it may be possible that we’ll be capable of doing this, I don’t see that we would do it beyond the typical couple of experiments. I think, in the end, even if the technology or ability becomes known to us, we’ll choose to ban it or cease doing it much like we did with cloning, only worse, because there could be serious ramifications for fiddling with the evolution of species other than ourselves. Remember Planet of the Apes? Well, what if that came true? I know, it sounds silly, but I’d rather not play with things we don’t need to play with anyway. We have robots who can do all the things we might need forced evolution for. - The Super Non-Refueling Perpetual Energy Mega Engine
Basically, you know when you read or see in a TV show that some enormous ship from Earth has an energy core that seems to only need replacing when someone damages it and never needs to be refueled, etc.? Yeah, well I’m calling B.S. to that. I really doubt we’ll ever have this magical machine that seems to run forever. Sure, there are ideas for a nuclear powered space engine, but even that has significant limitations. There aren’t going to be beryllium spheres and what not. I just don’t see it in our future. Maybe it’ll happen if aliens give it to us. - Personalized Spacecraft
Yes, I’m saying it. I don’t think we’ll ever have personalized spacecraft, as in ships that you own by yourself in the same way you own a car. Rich people may have them, but rich people don’t count. I don’t think space will ever become cheap enough that anyone can just buy a ship and shoot off into space. How everyone can afford spaceships in Star Wars is beyond me. I think all space-based travel will be strictly controlled and expensive. Companies will most likely be the ones owning private ships, and even then, those ships will be heavily restricted and expensive. However, even though I think this I will continue writing about it. Why? Because let’s face it, it’s really not very entertaining to write SF where most everybody waits in line for years just to get off planet. Then again, maybe that is an interesting concept. I do think it will be relatively affordable, as in not $200,000 per flight, but maybe in the $10,000 or less range. Still expensive, but at least the average family could save that money and go for a trip, right? - Universal Translators
Or anything remotely equivalent. I don’t believe for a second that any alien species will be able to easily comprehend our language, and vice versa. And I also don’t think we’ll have a machine that can do the job for us. We might have machines that can eventually be programmed to handle languages that aren’t human, but they won’t be able to translate without data input from an external source–such as someone studying an alien language and entering that in. Oh, and there won’t be any babelfish or anything that can be inserted in one’s ear that can translate any language into something understandable, just to cover my bases.
So, there it is! What do you think?
Edit: I edited this because I saw some errors and they were really annoying me.
