The answers surprised even me. When I began this journey of research inquiry, I had no preconceived notion as to what the answers would be. As you will see from the journey, I explored the relevant scientific and technological literature, searching through many disciplines for the answers. Of course, the answers are speculation on my part – but speculation based on science, not fantasy. This book is nonfiction. In order to even understand the answers, the reader needs to have a basic understanding of numerous scientific and technology fields which I hope is presented in a manner that the average lay reader of nonfiction will both understand and enjoy.
There is no expert in this field of study. In fact, it is not (yet) a field. There are many possible routes to the answers crossing scientific and technology disciplines such as evolutionary biology, paleontology, genomics, genetic engineering, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, robotics and others. The journey is complicated and the ultimate choice of pathways is a judgement call. The answers, therefore, are just one set of many possible answers. They are the ones I believe are the most probable, but other experts in any of the various scientific and technology fields may come to other conclusions. I have invited some of them to present these alternatives on the blog.