The fifth element

Science fiction will undoubtedly continue to be an interesting subject, both literary and cinematographically, as well as generally since it raises possibilities that are sometimes unattainable but mostly futuristic and not impossible.

Although we must accept that the major writings that gave the 2000 as a cumulus of new things were not fulfilled, it is no less true that others diversified and exceeded expectations, perhaps the most negative field of all was Astronautics from the point of view of space colonization by man, but astronomy far exceeded the writings.

Technology as a fundamental axis in the development of humanity has become one more basic element in daily life, becoming the fifth element of humanity, the genesis of the survival of the future and the bases where the projections of our predecessors rest, a pity that it can also be the cause of self-destruction, who thanks to it will have a world where leisure will be greater than physical effort and neuropsychological diseases the current AIDS.

Many things are already here and others are just around the corner, computing has invaded every field of various kinds, becoming the science on which the millennium is based and with nanotechnology, the science of the tiny, will compress the spaces of use of objects, predicting that soon the standard size of a personal PC will be the size of a hand.

Robotics is in a moment of great advance and for a long time quietly, the first generations of them are part of articles of domestic use and complements of labor systems, but it is soon the boom of the artificial intelligence neural switches that will make them independent beings that can perform different tasks, The cinema has been exploiting this aspect for some years and perhaps the most representative of all has been "The Bicentennial Man" with Robin Williams, since it also goes into the medical field where the changes are being substantial, since among many things we already have synthetic skins, solvent body detection devices, artificial food, non-solid space food like the one used by astronauts and other things.

In addition to the progress of genetic engineering, the tip of the iceberg of which has been cloning, but which in other fields is surely moving towards the creation of biocompatible and synthetic organs, and pharmacology, which is becoming more regulated but which proposes pharmacoalimentary bars, slimming pills, already on sale, vaccines against influenza, already 90% finished, and against many diseases, even injectable body medicines in the bloodstream, so that life expectancy will be longer.

In the field of sex, we have already seen how the elderly have been re-potentiated with the famous Viagra and the feminine answer is already on the market, but other advances have also been made at the level of virtuality and chemistry that threaten monogamy, fidelity and tenderness as serious dogmas of relationships.

Education is already being bombarded by the communicational and social neuronal system of the future such as the Internet and we can already say that we have virtual university students and internaut professionals, which sounds a bit gloomy but will be the result of the increased robotized working time. Housing has already begun to be the object of passive changes and the Hyper-Malls are a sample, as well as the aerial housing solutions that will turn skyscrapers into small cities and the distant, it seems, space colonies.

Technology has also brought about significant changes in other departments such as transportation, sports, security, employment, etc.

It is expected that the birth of new jobs could solve the current deficit problems and that the most generalized form will be Telemarketing or work at home by delivery and that even, already with some success in Eastern countries, pets will become virtual given the scarce physical space that the future holds for us.

As it is logical to imagine, leisure has its space and holography, plasmavision, video games, video music, body sensors for virtual reality, computer sophistication and many thousands of proposals, some already in operation, others available in a short time, will make life easier.

It can be summarized after this brief analysis that the fifth technological element does not cover the most sensitive part of the human being, such as the affective-sentimental part, which includes love and theology, among other things, so a sixth element will be needed.