In the coming decades, we have a lot to look forward to… and perhaps in equal measure, plenty to be concerned about, too. As humanity moves ever-forward, we have as many questions about where we are headed as we do about where we have been. All too often people today, surrounded by the fruits of modernity, seem to forget that we, as humans, haven't fundamentally changed over the last several thousands of years… evolutionarily speaking, at least. By that, we mean that the humans of 1500 A.D., or even 1500 B.C., were essentially similar to those of us here today, in terms of their cognition abilities, anatomical features, etc. In other words, the "modern humans" of today were very much still modern humans thousands of years ago. What has changed is the ways we have adapted to our environment, and the new kinds of technology that have emerged as a result of our ongoing adaptations. We can observe problems, and devise solutions through abstract thinking, which allows us to mechanize