Here Is The Most Amazing Thing About Our Universe

The most amazing thing about our universe is that matter is programmable! Matter — the stuff that everything is made of — can turn into stars, cars, laundry, lions, and amazingly you and me.

Think about it for a second!

It means that you can take a piece of dirt from any part of our universe and turn it into something tangible. As I write this, we do not have the technology to program matter into anything we want, but with time, we will surely get there.

Currently, all that we have is an idea of how such a technology might work. It would involve something akin to DNA or seedlings that can organically grow into the machines of the future in the same manner that a fetus grows in the womb. Achieving this will take some high-level software and hardware engineering, and given the ever-increasing capabilities of AI, it is only a matter of time.

Should we be scared that matter is programmable? Certainly. The fact that matter is programmable and that we will soon have the technology to program it will result in some of the most significant ethical concerns of our time.

Some of the questions we will have to grapple with include what to do if we can create humans and other life forms. Strong regulatory measures will have to be put in place so that the technology is not abused.

In my book, the Winds of Laikipia, I talk about these things and more. You can buy it here.