Part III Megatrends of Future Human Development 1
Introduction
Shao Xiaobo is a pupil of Class 8 of Grade 1 of Shanghai Yuanfang Senior Middle School. In the eyes of his teachers and classmates, or his neighbors, he has always been regarded as an incorrigible numskull.
In the English test this morning, Shao Xiaobo failed again, and was scolded by his English teacher Lao Cai thoroughly. The teacher cursed Shao Xiaobo as a fool, saying he had held back the whole class, saying he had a “granite head”… The teacher poured out a stream of abuses against him, with spittle flying everywhere.
Shao Xiaobo hung his head without saying anything, as he has got used to the English teacher’s cursing. Fat Zhang sitting behind him was speaking something in a whisper, but he turned a deaf ear to it. The class was over at last, and he just could not wait to dash out of the classroom to the playground. Playing basketball is the only fun he had in his dull campus life. While playing basketball, he chatted with his fellows.
“Don’t you know? Hawking is coming to visit China.” Shao Xiaobo spoke up.
Anybody knows Hawking is Shao Xiaobo’s idol. Just the man who contracted the incurable disease of muscular dystrophy as early as the age of 21, cannot speak，can hardly move (even raising his head will take him a great effort), is leaning in the electric wheelchair all day long, only relying on several fingers of his right hand that can be moved freely, to drive his wheelchair or control the computer… Such a man should be able to become a great star in the domain of science! Shao Xiaobo has always been full of great respect for Hawking’s genius and perseverance. His greatest dream is to go to University of Cambridge，and be able to chat with Hawking. But he can only bury this dream in the bottom of his heart, otherwise, others will laugh their heads off.
Just at this moment, a basketball flying from one end of the playground just hit his head. He felt dark before his eyes suddenly and fainted down in spite of himself… …
When he wakes up, he hears some strange voice of talking besides the singing of some birds.
“He has woken up!”
“Where has he come from?”
“I have just tested him. He has been pushed here by the airflow in the space-time tunnel! It is a possibility of part per trillion, but he should have fallen across it!”
Shao Xiaobo opens his eyes with difficulty. A pretty girl with a dark brown hair smiles to him, “Welcome you to the world of 2050! You have 5 minutes to stay. What wish do you have? What do you want to know about the world of 2050?”
Shao Xiaobo opens his mouth in surprise. Luckily, he is an earnest reader of Wesley’s novels from childhood, so he says: “Is what you said true?”
The pretty girl smiles without remark. “Your time is limited. Please visit the supermarket nearby. Today is the date for free dispatch of ‘body optimization’ products. All the products here are labeled with any of the three markers, ‘birth optimization through technology’, ‘education optimization through technology’ and ‘body optimization through technology’, so as to attract people to buy. Oh，you may not understand what a ‘body optimization’ product is? Look，now Mr. Seim is handing out ‘I Am Tender and Kind’ hamburgers and ‘You Are Vinci’ biscuits. As soon you eat the bread，you will have the painting talent of Da Vinci. Also, we have A-typed fruit juice that can change your eyes into phoenix-typed eyes, and we have C-typed almond milk that will change your eyes into the shape of a crescent…”
“It sounds so interesting. Do you have something that can make people clever? That is, something that can help me learn English easily.”
“That is so simple.” In talking，the pretty gal passes a piece of semilunar chocolate to him smilingly, “Swallow it, and it can help you learn any language in the world easily.” “Wow，so wonderful?” Shao Xiaobo picks it up half believing and half doubting, puts it into his mouth. Oh, very delicious!.
“What other wishes do you have?”
“Hum，I…I…” Shao Xiaobo scratches his scalp, and says in a low voice: “I also wish… Like Hawking, go to Cambridge and become a physicist…” “Hawking?” The pretty gal frowns a little.
“Hawking is the greatest physicist of our world，is the present ‘Einstein’!” Shao Xiaobo is protecting his idol whole-heartedly, without hesitation.
“I know all these. Hey!” The gal gives a deep sigh, saying: “Today, for that kind of disease Hawking contracted, just by eating three BOB specially-made pineapples continually, he could recover completely.”
“That’s too good! May I take some for him?”
“No way. The space-time tunnel does not allow anyone to take away anything belonging to this era. If people of your era make concerted efforts to develop the technology for ‘birth optimizing’, ‘body optimizing’ and ‘education optimizing’, then, the time of breakthrough may be moved up greatly, so, your idol, Hawking, may also stand and walk in his life time!” After saying this, the gal passes a bottle of milk shake to him hurriedly, “Oh, your time will be over soon. Drink this bottle of milk shake, hurry, then you will become a genius in physics.” Shao Xiaobo grabs the transparent sucker and drinks at a draught.
Just after drinking, Shao Xiaobo feels a golden glint before his eyes all of a sudden. His body is rolled up as if by a tornado, and then, he is sinking, sinking… “Xiaobo, Xiaobo, wake up, wake up!…”
“Xiaobao has woken!” A group of classmates were crowding around him.
“I…” Shao Xiaobo was looking at his classmates hesitantly, seeming both familiar and strange.
“Nothing wrong with you? You were hit and fainted down just now. However hard we shook you, you could not wake then.” Seeing Shao Xiaobo was safe, they scattered.