Projects To Be Thought About.

In the current developing world, at any given moment, millions of scientists, researchers, programmers and others, are working for the common good. Some have selfish motivations, and others may not understand the importance of their work but at the end we may all get benefited from their endeavors. Since we do not know what the future holds, it is difficult to accurately predict which projects will turn out to be the most significant; it is likely that many ventures will end in failure, and in retrospect, we may even be surprised that some were even undertaken. We can, however, uncover some leading candidates for most critical projects currently underway.

Medicine - We'll start with the most obvious. It is been said that health is wealth. So, Medical improvements can benefit all of us, either directly or indirectly. Cures to epidemics, or new medical therapies, perhaps genetic, can improve the quality of our lives. A cure for cancer or AIDS can end up saving millions of human lives and elevating the quality of life for millions more.

Spiritual - There are many people that dismiss the importance of physical practicalities of our lives, and focus their efforts on more grandiose ends such as personal fulfillment, enlightenment and moral living. They urge us to strive for meaningful lives as opposed to merely comfortable ones; others try to shift attention to the afterlife as opposed to the here and now. It is possible that the work done in promoting these spiritual ends will accomplish the most for humanity in the long run.

Alternative Energy - Just a few hundred years ago, the issue of energy was mostly irrelevant. People collected wood for cooking and heat, and maybe used sunlight to warm water. But the modern society is somewhat different and advanced than that, and much of what we do is directly or indirectly based on energy. Energy is used for transportation, industrial production, communications - even the harvesting and transportation of fruits and vegetables relies on a surprising amount of energy.

Computer, Internet and Artificial Intelligence - As processing power improves, the functionality and value of computers tends to increase significantly. The best computers of just a decade ago could not even handle tasks that the average desktop computer now handles with ease. The networking of these computers has expanded the possibilities even further. Computing and the internet has already changed many of our lives. We plan trips, research products, and explore our history in entirely new and more efficient ways sitting on a rotating chair just by the use of fingers. It seems clear that the world is in our fingers now, however, that the impact of the internet has just begun its influence on our lives.

Space Travel - To some, this may be the most perplexing entry on this list. Suppose that the medical researchers described above are not able to stave off some future viral plague. Or imagine the nightmare scenario of a huge asteroid colliding with earth. What if drastic climate change ends up rendering our planet inhospitable to any form of life.

It is clear that some important issues were omitted from the list above, but it was not intended to be exhaustive. It may turn out that the most important work isn't even on the radar right now. What is clear, is that although we are faced with unprecedented issues and problems, we have the technology and capacity to solve them; it is certainly a very exciting time to be alive!