Will anyone born today see the 22nd century?
We are now living in the year 2024 AD, or 1403 Hijri, and the end of this century and beginning of a new century will happen 76 years from now. According to the latest statistical calculations, the average age for men is about 71 and for women about 76, and the maximum age is estimated at about 115 years. Therefore, it seems that women will also see the next century due to their current average age. But since the average age has always been on the rise (for the reasons that will be mentioned), most of those who are born today will witness the 22nd century also.
Today, more than eight billion people live on this earth. On average, one person is added to this number every second. Those who have lived more than 24 years, have also lived in the 20th century. Of course, as anyone’s age increases passed 24, that person’s objective awareness will increase as well. Those who were born in the middle of the last century, such as me, would remember technological advances culminated during the last century. I spent my childhood in a smaller city. I lived in a narrow alley, so narrow that when it snowed and the residents shoveled the roofs of their houses and threw the snow in the alley, the amount of snow in our alley was so much, and the elevation of it was so high, that in order to be able to commute through that alley, they had to dig tunnels in the snow. There is no need to mention that none of the people who lived in that alley had a car. Although a few cars were passing through the streets, most of the people did not own cars and used public transportation, including horse driven buggies. In addition, the cities were not as large as today, and going to school or work or any other places was generally done on foot.
If we look back and review the 20th century, and then the last quarter of the 21st century, we reach interesting results. First, the 20th century witnessed such a rapid technological advances, not comparable to the centuries before it. The first car that was built was Mercedes Benz, which was produced in 1886. But mass production of cars was by Ford company in 1908 and in the United States. Although electricity was ready for use in the 19th century, the use of high voltage electricity and batteries became common in the 20th century. A variety of other innovations were possible using electricity. The devices that we use daily, such as gas and electric stoves, microwaves, refrigerators, televisions, radios, and many other products became universal in the 20th century. The electric car, which was commercially available in this century, was made in the 20th century and was used as a golf cart. Even high-voltage electricity, invented by Nikola Tesla in the 19th century, became commonplace in the 20th century, and cities quickly built power plants for public consumption. Although the telephone was invented in the 19th century, mass production and public use occurred in the 20th century. In 1915, the first telephone line was built from east to west by Graham Bell. In recent years, mobile phones have replaced those phones and have spread rapidly throughout the world.
Due to the rapid development of technology and the use of all natural resources, mankind has been able to increase its population significantly. Almost all parts of our planet, inside out, have been discovered and it can be said that all materials existing on earth have been used. But unfortunately, due to expansion of human domain, many species of animals have been extinct. By managing the light of the sun and other resources that reach us from other global resources, mankind has been able to expand its scope outside of this globe as well. We have acquired the knowledge that all the earthly materials are restricted, and the earth and what is in it is limited. Therefore, all our earthly resources will vanish one day.
As it was noted earlier, one of the factors of population control is a set of ailments, which of course as time goes on and technology expands, mankind overcomes them as well. Another factor is creation of wars and the killing of people by each other. Philosophers and intellectuals have said a lot about this, but it doesn't seem that rulers pay any attention to that, as a huge majority of them are under the influence of military industrial complex. Among other factors, we can talk about the absence of fair distribution of natural wealth, and due to such inequality, in addition to the lack of access of the lower classes of any society, many natural resources are destroyed. But despite all these limitations, the world population trend is always in the upward position.
As a result of the increase in population, humans need more materials than the earth can offer. Considering that the necessary materials available on the planet earth are limited, on the first page of the website mentioned above, the number of globes that mankind needs for survival is mentioned! Accordingly, humans need an additional globe, which is more than one-eighth of the current earth's surface, a figure which is expanding constantly. We also read on this website that in the last six hundred years, the population of the earth has been increasing in general, and it is predicted that this upsurge will continue until the beginning of the next century, when the world's population will reach eleven billion people. Interestingly, the number of humans on the planet is one hundredth of one percent of all living beings, while we have more than one third of the earth's resources.
History provides evidence that although some governments benefiting the populace have been in power in different times and places, but majority of the governments have been those with strong police and military, supporting some dictators. We are witnessing today that almost all countries are governed under the control of such forces. As long as man-killing and nature-destroying governments rule the world, a bleak future is predicted for humanity. We can wish for a day when people put their hands together and pull the demonic forces down. In that case, there is a possibility that population growth will be controlled, resources will be divided equally, nature will be preserved, each creature will have an equal chance to enjoy the nature, and the next century will be more splendid than the present.
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