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Pew Research center asked Americans for
their predictions about the
long-term future of scientific
advancement, and to share their own feelings and
attitudes toward some new
developments that might become
common features of American life
in the next 50 years.
Survey says:
Most Americans believe that the
technological developments of
the coming half-century will
have a net positive impact on
society.
59% are optimistic
that coming technological and
scientific changes will make
life in the future better.
30% think these changes will
lead to a future in which people
are worse off than they are
today.
Developments that were a cause
of concern;
66% of Americans think it would
be a change for the worse if
prospective parents could alter
the DNA of their children to
produce smarter, healthier, or
more athletic offspring.
65% think it would be a change
for the worse if
lifelike robots
become the primary caregivers
for the elderly and people in
poor health.
63% think it would be a change
for the worse if personal and
commercial drones are given
permission to fly through most
U.S. airspace.
53% think it would be a change
for the worse if most people
wear implants or other devices
that constantly show them
information about the world
around them. Women are
especially wary of a future in
which these devices are
widespread.
Many Americans pair their
long-term optimism with high
expectations for the inventions
of the next half century, even
as they expect certain
advancements (like controlling
the weather) to remain outside
the reach of science:
81% expect that within the next
50 years, people needing new
organs will have them custom
grown in a lab.
51% expect that computers will
be able to create art that is
indistinguishable from that
produced by humans.
39% expect that scientists will
have developed the technology to
teleport objects.
33% expect that humans will
have colonized planets other
than Earth.
19% expect that humans will be
able to control the weather in
the foreseeable future.
The public is evenly divided on
whether or not they would like
to ride in a driverless car: 48%
would be interested, while 50%
would not. But significant
majorities say that they are not
interested in getting a brain
implant to improve their memory
or mental capacity (26% would,
72% would not) or in eating meat
that was grown in a lab (just
20% would like to do this).
Asked to describe in their own
words the futuristic inventions
they themselves would like to
own, the public offered three
common themes:
1) travel
improvements like flying cars
and bikes, or even personal
space crafts (19% mentioned this
type of invention);
2) the
ability to travel through time
(9%); and
3) health improvements
that extend human longevity or
cure major diseases (9%).
Click here to read full report
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