I doubt this evolution will ever slow down. I'm not discussing Creationism vs Darwinism. I am comparing the horse and buggy to the automobile. Things change and adapt so quickly now that for the first time average people like me can see/visualize its progress. A health safety crisis - war - viral videos are absorbed so rapidly. On the down side, new information pops up so quickly that it is hard to stay focussed on yesterdays news. Even if it was important.  On the good side, it give us a chance to avoid disaster. I believe Y2K became a joke mostly because the computer industry prepared for it. The swine flu met with a similar fate. I haven't heard any crazy outbreak news for weeks. A short time ago they had us all buying hand cleaner and masks.

Before, only people that were so mentally focused on the future (eccentrics) or unconcerned/unburdened with day to day worries (lab scientists/rich people) could rise above the din. They could make educated predictions about the future because they were already mentally there. The computer evolution that has occurred in the last 10 years has brought the general public to that plane. A person can spend 2 hours on the net and find enough information on any disease to put most doctors to the test. I can get on my laptop and in 1 hour set flight, hotel, car and activity plans for a family vacation. Something that would have required a travel agent  or hours/days of pouring through brochures + multiple phone calls, is done before you know it.

The human brain can process 20 quadrillion operations per second (20 petaflops in computer jargon). The top supercomputer just broke the one-petaflop mark. IBM has a super computer (Watson) that is going to compete on the TV show Jeopardy. I don't see it being too long before the unrealistic predictions about the future become true and then some. Soon enough, computers will mimic humans to the point it will be hard to tell which it is without seeing it. Hell, who knows? Maybe a computer generated this blog. Do you know for sure?

adios-