There’s an old Chinese curse that goes “May you live in interesting times.” The gist being that wars, plagues, social upheavals, etc never occur during boring times of peace and prosperity. I think humanity as a whole has had pretty much nothing but Interesting Times since the Dawn of Reason during the Renaissance, and with the way that technology is currently wildly accelerating, the Interesting Times keep getting Interestinger.

My online motto for the past few years has been, “We live in interesting times.” Whenever I read a story about the imminent arrival of robotic cars, or the Internet of Things, or almost anything else technology related, my response usually boils down to “We live in interesting times.”

NASA is researching faster-than-light warp engines. Google not only has cars which have driven half a million miles by themselves without causing any accidents, but they’re also working on a program to extend lifespans to an indefinite length. Manufacturing is moving from overseas sweatshops back to on-shore automated 3D printing workshops. Computers are generating currency out of thin air. Everywhere you look, there’s a serious story about something nearly everyone would have scoffed at just 15 years ago.

We live in the most Interesting of Times. And yet, most of us are still arguing trivialities of politics. Most people living in the 1st World are more interested in pop stars and reality TV than the fact that humanity is on the cusp of being able to automate food, clothing and shelter production. Almost everyone is unaware that unprecedented levels of unemployment are soon to be caused by widespread automation.

Does this mean we’re living in a cursed time? I don’t think so, but I do think that our current situation calls for an ever increasing need for educated vigilance and ethics in business and government. An ignorant, superstitious public coupled with out-of-control greed in business and self-serving overreaching government is a horrible recipe for any sort of progress. Ultimately, though, I’m beginning to think that those factors are increasingly irrelevant.

The cat may well be too far out of the bag to be put back in. I don’t think that any amount of Luddism from public or government can put much of a dent into the technological progress machine. There seems to be too much money to be made and too much governmental power to be had for any significant enough Monkey Wrench to be thrown into the works that might slow things down appreciably.

The Bad News may well be the Good News. Our robotic offspring will put nearly all of us out of work and may well bring an end to our consumer-driven economy as we know it. But they may also give us the means to provide for our necessities at an ever-decreasing cost. Automation may finally lift the yolk of mind-numbing menial labor off our backs. And I won’t be surprised if the power that governments wish to use to spy on us eventually wiggles out of their control and makes everything transparent, giving none of us, not even the government, a place to hide.

Maybe this inversion point where everything changes is what The Singularity will be. Maybe it won’t happen at all, or maybe instead we’ll destroy ourselves. I have no idea, and that’s what makes the 21st century a very interesting time indeed!