Episode 81: Blockchain technology w/Farah Saleh

In March 2001, futurist Ray Kurzweil published an essay arguing that humans found it hard to comprehend their own future. It was clear from history, he argued, that technological change is exponential – even though most of us are unable to see it – and that in a few decades, the world would be unrecognizably different. “We won’t experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century – it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today’s rate)”, he wrote in ‘The Law of Accelerating Returns’.

Fifteen years on, Kurzweil is a director of engineering at Google and his essay has acquired a cult following among futurists. Some of its predictions are outlandish or overhyped — but technology experts say that its basic tenets often hold. The evidence, they say, lies in the exponential advances in a suite of enabling technologies ranging from computing power to data storage, to the scale and performance of the Internet

Some examples:

Virtual assistants in the next decade will become the main channel through which people will obtain information, products, and services.

Human augmentation (cyborgs) in the medical world is perhaps the best known to society. Prostheses usually supplement damaged or lost bodies. However, by means of bionic implants, it is possible to imitate the original function of the organs or parts of the body and even increase them.

Computer telepathy suggests that it will be possible to capture a thought and share it with the world. In 2019, six scientists from Washington State University managed to interconnect three brains to play Tetris with the mind. The system is called BrainNet and works as a direct collaboration interface between brains.

And of course, blockchain.

Blockchain is a system in which a growing list of records is linked and encrypted to protect your security and privacy. Blockchain is maintained on multiple computers that are linked on a peer-to-peer network.

To give us some Blockchain 101 as well as a guide into the possibilities it offers, we invited wonderful amazing blockchain expert Farah Saleh. Thank you for sharing your insights with us.

There are so many opportunities with blockchain and we have only seen the beginning of it, it does not get more exciting than this!