Thread: Future

Without a doubt, there are some very tough times ahead, with lots of crises to try and solve. And there are some exciting prospects about how technology will advance in the coming years. I just hope the good outweighs the bad as we head into an uncertain future.

I've been thinking recently how cool it would be if some sort of global fund was set up, dedicated to the advancement of mankind. Something anyone and everyone could contribute towards. It would work on the principle of being open to all, but owned by none. Governments, companies, wealthy individuals, etc, all would be free to give as much as they liked towards the cause, but no one could claim to have an entitlement to funding, no matter how much they've put in. Any donation to the cause would be charitable, rather than a simple investment opportunity. No one would be able to claim the rights to any products or advancements that come about as a result of this fund, so the benefits would be shared by all, and not hoarded as the property of some selfish institution.

It could be used to fund various research projects around the world, in areas like medicine, agriculture, renewable technology and many other important things. Obviously, as a peaceful foundation, with the advancement of the human species as the goal, the funding of research into weapons technology or anything of the like would be strictly forbidden. What would give it an advantage over regular government or private funds, is that it would be a large pot, worth many billions, if not trillions. So we would see a lot more global projects on the scale of CERN's supercollider and NASA's Mars missions.

With such a thing in place, I think our species would advance at a more rapid rate than we are now. This is all most likely an overly optimistic fantasy, that wouldn't be likely to occur for a long time, if ever. But it's a nice thought. And if such a thing already exists, then I would like to claim credit for the idea, with the excuse of time travel.

Originally Posted by Heavy Sleeper

Without a doubt, there are some very tough times ahead, with lots of crises to try and solve. And there are some exciting prospects about how technology will advance in the coming years. I just hope the good outweighs the bad as we head into an uncertain future.

I've been thinking recently how cool it would be if some sort of global fund was set up, dedicated to the advancement of mankind. Something anyone and everyone could contribute towards. It would work on the principle of being open to all, but owned by none. Governments, companies, wealthy individuals, etc, all would be free to give as much as they liked towards the cause, but no one could claim to have an entitlement to funding, no matter how much they've put in. Any donation to the cause would be charitable, rather than a simple investment opportunity. No one would be able to claim the rights to any products or advancements that come about as a result of this fund, so the benefits would be shared by all, and not hoarded as the property of some selfish institution.

It could be used to fund various research projects around the world, in areas like medicine, agriculture, renewable technology and many other important things. Obviously, as a peaceful foundation, with the advancement of the human species as the goal, the funding of research into weapons technology or anything of the like would be strictly forbidden. What would give it an advantage over regular government or private funds, is that it would be a large pot, worth many billions, if not trillions. So we would see a lot more global projects on the scale of CERN's supercollider and NASA's Mars missions.

With such a thing in place, I think our species would advance at a more rapid rate than we are now. This is all most likely an overly optimistic fantasy, that wouldn't be likely to occur for a long time, if ever. But it's a nice thought. And if such a thing already exists, then I would like to claim credit for the idea, with the excuse of time travel.

As long as donations are strictly voluntary, then this would be a wonderful thing.

Originally Posted by cmind

As long as donations are strictly voluntary, then this would be a wonderful thing.

Of course. Mandatory donations would just be stupid.