The year is 2025. A classroom of first-graders sits rapt with attention as their instructor asks the age-old question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

The first child stands up, ready to share his ambitions: “When I grow up, I’d like to be a technologically enhanced being with the power to manipulate my natural environment with the blink of an eye, upload my consciousness to a super network and roam virtual worlds of my choosing for the rest of eternity.”

No child in the classroom is perturbed. They’re distracted by a series of holograms occupying the space as the first child speaks. He is using said holograms to illustrate his points as he addresses them one by one.

The instructor scoffs. “Next time, try to be a bit more original.”

This scenario seems to be the stuff of a strange, artsy science fiction film. In fact, this is exactly the world we can expect to see develop during our lifetimes. While the remainder of the 21st century seems bleak given environmental, economic and military crises, hope is offered in the form of a phenomenon known in futurist communities as “the Singularity.”

The Singularity is a fundamental turning point in human history. It is the moment when technological evolution outpaces that of biological evolution. We will be able to transcend our biological intelligence and enter into a new era in which nearly anything is possible.

We will augment our brains with the capability to absorb limitless information. The argument that the Singularity is impending is outlined in several books by the celebrated scientist and inventor Ray Kurzweil. Kurzweil argues that, given the exponentially increasing pace of technological development, we will soon be able to reverse engineer the human brain and perfect it to create a super-intelligent being. We will also be able to create nano-bots with the capability to operate within our own bodies, altering our DNA to prevent disease and reverse the process of aging.

Already we are seeing the effects of rapid technological change in our society. Google released a video of “Google Glasses” — replacing the mobile phone with a communication device that operates hands free, augmenting the vision of the user with updates and infusing the outside world with information. For example, the user would be able to identify the make, model and price of a vehicle by merely looking at it with the glasses. These glasses are an example of technology becoming cheaper and more widely available at a rapid pace.

Many people argue that the ideas of Singularitarians are outlandish and defy physical limits. Skeptics say the Singularity is in the distant future, provided we outlast destruction of natural resources or nuclear war. Even those who can accept the valid arguments for the Singularity react with fear. Technophobes envision a Terminator-style scenario in which our creations usurp us. Some envision a race of cyborgs devoid of humanity.

To these detractors, I point to the obvious benefits of the Singularity — death becoming obsolete, alleviation of suffering in the form of disease or hunger and the possibility of truly understanding the universe. Ultimately, it is the nature of human beings to adapt, to evolve, to manipulate and to comprehend. Let us stand atop the old world and look confidently towards a new one.