On the Future of Science

bj8rn writes "Kevin Kelly, the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, speculates about the future of science based on a talk he have gave a few weeks ago. Kelly sees recursion as the essence of science and chronicles the introduction of different recursive devices in science; projecting forward from this, he makes several interesting predictions about what the near future may hold in store. Some highlights: there will be more change in the next 50 years of science than in the last 400 years; the new century will be the century of Biology; new ways of knowing will emerge, with 'Wikiscience' leading to perpetually refined papers with thousands of authors."

Comments

Shortsighted

[Framboise]

As usual people predicting over 100 years are likely to be almost completely wrong.

I find particularly shortsighted to predict big advances in biology while at the same time recognizing the central role of computer sciences. Most advances in biology now are direct consequences of technological advances on other fields like physics and maths. It is not difficult to predict big advances in nanotechnologies that follow from previous advances in basic sciences as well.

Then I see no reason to believe that advances in basic sciences will slow down. Just what is happening now for example in quantum physics is likely to modify computer science (quantum computer) and other technologies (microscopy) in drastic ways well within 50 years. The relative impact of such developments wrt biology is just impossible to predict.