Rainbows End

Presently I am reading a science fiction novel called "Rainbows End" by Verner Vinge.The story is set in a post singular society where books are obsolete,laptops are backdated, people are networked via wireless devices attached to their clothes(known as wearables) and smart contact lenses.But the central theme of the story remains a global terrorist conspiracy and personal struggle of the protagonist to adapt to this changing world.So it's about a world where the gadgets have got somewhat advanced and human beings are trying to utilize and adjust to that.Society has evolved technologically but the human beings have not changed fundamentally.



This is a great science fiction with a thriller undertone.But I would have been very happy to read about human beings also evolving physically as well as mentally.Physical evolution of human beings can be something like the regularly used gadgets becoming part of our body itself.Some sort of mutation we see in those X-Men movies.A gradual evolution towards becoming a cyborg.But what will be the nature of our psychological evolution?This I am not very sure of.May be our learning capacity will increase and we will able to see beyond the three dimensions.Are we going to become more selfish or altruistic?.Will the basic questions regarding our self,being,dreams and consciousness be answered,or we will lose sight of those questions itself.
Whenever I think about this I naturally get confused.Few words of a very good friend (Somdeb) comes to my mind.
"Think of two monkeys sitting on a branch of tree and chatting million years back.Descendants of one has evolved to become a man ridiculing those of the other,now captured in a zoo.Similarly both of us discussing evolution in the middle of night and think what might happen few million years from now....."
This is the most tragic part of evolution.Survival of the fittest.Space is infinite and time is eternal but as it passes it does not provide for all.