Welcome to October’s Non-Fiction Feature, friend! A couple weeks back, I shared an excerpt from The Future of Us: The Science of What We’ll Eat, Where We’ll Live, and Who We’ll Be by Jay Ingram. Today, I bring you the review and a book list inspired by the ideas in this book. Here is what The Future of Us is about:
The Future of Us: The Science of What We’ll Eat, Where We’ll Live, and Who We’ll Be
By Jay Ingram | Goodreads
Published 2023
A fascinating look at the cutting-edge science and technologies that are on the cusp of changing everything from where we’ll live, how we’ll look, and who we’ll be, by the popular science broadcaster and bestselling author Jay Ingram.
Where will we live? How will we get around? What will we look like? These are just some of the questions bestselling author and popular science broadcaster Jay Ingram answers in this exciting examination of the science and technologies that will affect every aspect of human life.
In these pages, Ingram explores the future of our technological civilization. He reports on cutting-edge research in organ and limb regeneration, advances in prosthetics, the merging of the human and the synthetic, and gene editing. Vertical farming and lab-grown food might help feed millions and alleviate pressure on the planet. Cities could accommodate green space and the long-awaited flying car. Finally, he speculates on the future of artificial general intelligence, even artificial superintelligence, as well as our place on Earth and in the universe.
The potential impact of these developments in science and technology will be powerful and wide-ranging, complicated by ethics and social equity. And they will inevitably revolutionize every aspect of life and even who we are. This is The Future of Us.
The Future of Us Book Review
In the introductory chapter of the book, The Fog of the future, through a mix of facts, funny conversations, news articles, Jay Ingram establishes The Future of Us the tone and theme of the chapter to come. The writing is enjoyable and easy to fall into. This intro was a short meditation on how technologies have changed us over time and how for many of the areas mentioned in this book, the advances and research cannot be considered in isolation. We have to talk about the ethical and social implications of the technologies that we may introduce. I was prepared for a ride into many aspects of our future, what I did not realize was how much I was going to learn about the past and present as well.
The Future of Us is divided into four parts:
I: All about us
This part looks at evolution and the advances that directly affect or are integrated into the person. Touching on the latest and future of genetic research and prosthetics, for the first time, I pondered the science fiction scenarios of cyborgs – the integration of biology with technology. There was also discussion of technologies of brain-human interface. A chapter dedicated to longevity and the technologies needed to support that was quite intriguing too.
Books to check about that touch on the topics in this part:
- Cinder by Marissa Meyer | Goodreads | Review
- We are satellites by Sarah Pinsker | Goodreads | Review
- Tell me an ending by Jo Harkin | Goodreads | Review
- Zoo by James Patterson | Goodreads | Review: Fast paced, interesting, gripping, thought-provoking)
II: What will we eat?
Though I was ok with this part, I can see this one making some people queasy as it is about the very touchy topic of what we consume.
I had never given much thought to food production till I read Johann Hari’s Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention- and How to Think Deeply Again (Goodreads). The Future of Us fleshes out what I heard in Stolen Focus, sharing facts and trends in animal husbandry, the debates around waste from this industry, food for humans as well as our dear cats and dogs and, finally but not only, whether insects will become a part of our diets in the future. I learned about the rearing of cows vs chickens and the evolution of chicken for our food plates. It was eye opening to look at the numbers and the global food supply’s relationship to deforestation and greenhouse emissions. There were sections about lab grown meat (who is a good consumer?) and what that is really made of.
Three of my favorite section titles are the from Banana and the Broiler chapter:
- Celebrating the ‘chicken of tomorrow’
- Running around like a chicken…
- Takeout
I haven’t read much fiction that explores food but the dystopian society depicted in Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace (Goodreads | Review) talked about food and waste to some extent.
III: Where will we live and how will we get there?
If transport was to improve in the future, what key aspect would you like it to improve upon? The general consensus is speed. With the environmental issues we face in energy production, consumption and greenhouse emissions, there are a number of factors that transportation technologies have to balance to give us the speed. As is Jay Igram’s style, to speculate, there will be lots of evidence of what has come before and what has been done. I did not know that supersonic planes existed nor did I know that planes use a mix of biodegradable fuel. I was reminded of technologies that I thought belonged in historical steampunk fantasy.
The discussion around self-driving cars was definitely another of my first times to ponder the deployment of these technologies world wide and the ethical issues we face. I was watching a clip of The Good Place the other day and the trolley problem came up for the self-driving vehicle too.
Where will we live? Will our future cities be smart? Will we want any greenery in them? How will they affect wildlife? Will we move to the metaverse, immersed in an online environment all the time? What will the future of work be like?
From these on earth technologies, the discussion moved to planet wide technologies, tackling climate change and global warming with geo-engineering. And from there, life beyond, aliens and stars. There is a lot packed in this part. It is absolutely fascinating and I enjoyed it the most.
Books I thought of:
- Timekeeper by Tara Sim | Goodreads | Review
- What we see in the smoke by Ben Berman Ghan | Goodreads | Review
- Endurance by Scott Kelly | Goodreads | Review: Loved it! Very insightful.
- Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult | Goodreads | Review: A beautiful story about a mother and daughter.
- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline | Goodreads | Review: an adventure of a lifetime.
- Tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin | Goodreads | Review: One of my favorite books about friendships as an adult
- Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel | Goodreads | Review
- The Smallest Lights in the Universe by Sara Seager | Goodreads | Review
IV: Changed by computing
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a hot topic nowadays. I was looking at going to a data conference and the agenda was full of AI and chatbots. Jay actually plays with ChatGPT and shares its results and his thoughts on what he was expecting and what he got. I enjoyed this part a lot! Jay explains the difference between general AI (the one we fear) and the AIs that we have right now (I will call them purposeful AI as they have been created for specific use cases). I loved how AI can be linked into the bigger philosophical question of whether we are in a simulation. I had not pondered that one before and it gave a very Matrix feel! Jay’s commentary in this part too was insightful and fun to read, like the rest of the book.
Fiction around AI that I have adored is:
- The Mother Code by Carole Stivers | Goodreads | Review
- The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon | Goodreads
- The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff | Goodreads | Review
While it is possible to forecast and predict what is coming in the near future, what the world would look like 50, 100 years from now is hard to say. In a light hearted and easy to read manner, The Future of Us is a great summary of all that is happening in and what we hope to achieve through technological advances with context from our past and future. It is a look at our hopes and dreams as a species. I enjoyed the what if scenarios and the unanswered questions that are too early to speculate upon. I learned so much from this book!
There is a lot of information packed in here. I liked coming back to this book when I wanted to take a break from my fiction reading. The Future of Us was the perfect read on a day flight.
Add it to your Goodreads shelf if you are intrigued.
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