It's fair to say that the most exciting moments in human history have happened during our lifetimes.
And during my lifetime personally, I've lived through two major revolutions: the internet and blockchain.
By now, we know what the internet is capable of. And we've got a pretty clear blueprint of where blockchain is going. We haven't yet seen all the innovations these will offer, but we've got a pretty good idea what they will look like.
Which brings us to an important question: what will be the next revolution---the one we can't see yet and do not yet have an idea where it will go?
Only One Real Possibility
Naturally, since the two existing revolutions are well underway, we should seriously consider pouring resources into bringing about the next one. But since we want to make sure these resources don't go to waste, it is essential that we identify this next revolution before throwing any money at it.
Luckily, we are in a unique position. Previous generations could never be sure of where their next revolution would come from, because there were so many possibilities back then.
But for us, most of these possibilities have already been fulfilled. We've already freed information through the power of the internet, and we've already freed money and ownership through the power of blockchain. This leaves us with only one viable option left.
And that is the liberation of physical matter. It's the only thing left to be freed. We can already send data and value across the planet at near-instant speeds. The only thing left that can't travel quickly...is matter itself.
Meaning the next revolution has to be teleportation. I'm calling it right now.
Teleportation? Really?
Yes, really.
The movement of physical goods is, after all, the only remaining bottleneck in society. When you buy a couch on Amazon.com, the order is made instantaneously, and the money (as soon as Amazon starts accepting Bitcoin) is also transferred instantaneously. The only thing that is not instantaneous is the movement of the couch from Amazon's warehouse to your living room. Solve that, and you've solved everything.
Teleportation will also facilitate instantaneous human movement across the planet (and eliminate the nightmare that is flying coach these days).
It will also make space travel feasible. Imagine, if instead of sending a manned ship to Mars, we simply send an unmanned payload to the planet, consisting of a single teleport receiver. We can then send people to and from the Red Planet with ease.
It will also make shipping and the sharing of resources exponentially easier, as every corner of our world will be able to freely trade with every other corner of the world. Shortage of resources will become a thing of the past.
World hunger will also be eliminated. Consider how much food is thrown away by developed nations:
It's an open secret that grocery stores throw away more food than they sell. This food gets thrown away just before the expiration date, meaning that it is still consumable. Imagine if this food could be instantly transported across the world to communities experiencing famine. We'd never waste even a single grape again.
Fresh water could also be transported from continent to continent, to give drought relief to places that would otherwise be unreachable.
Let's Not Waste Time
Since we can be fairly certain that the next revolution will be teleportation, we can afford to be a little less cautious in throwing resources at this revolution. We must call upon governments and corporations to begin making overtures towards developing teleportation technology. We must begin now, so that we will be in the best possible position once the tech becomes feasible.
But isn't it Really Hard to Invent Teleportation?
I believe we may be closer than anyone suspects to having a working system of teleportation.
New physics get discovered every year, and it could take only one serious breakthrough to take teleportation from fantasy to reality. If we make accommodations for those currently doing research, and also put pressure on the scientific and R&D communities to GET THIS DONE, I think we can crack this nut in only a few decades at the very most.
And, though this is only my assertion, I will remind you that both the internet and blockchain were also once assertions---no more bold than anything I am putting forward today.
We really don't have any more excuses. We must begin to seriously explore this technology today, and pursue it as if it were the next big thing. Because it is.