Posted on 11/19/2005 11:34:03 AM PST by Momaw Nadon
At the onset of the twenty-first century, humanity stands on the verge of the most transforming and the most thrilling period in its history. It will be an era in which the very nature of what it means to be human will be both enriched and challenged, as our species breaks the shackles of its genetic legacy and achieves inconceivable heights of intelligence, material progress, and longevity.
For over three decades, the great inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future. In his classic The Age of Spiritual Machines, he presented the daring argument that with the ever-accelerating rate of technological change, computers would rival the full range of human intelligence at its best. Now, in The Singularity Is Near, he examines the next step in this inexorable evolutionary process: the union of human and machine, in which the knowledge and skills embedded in our brains will be combined with the vastly greater capacity, speed, and knowledge-sharing ability of our own creations.
That merging is the essence of the Singularity, an era in which our intelligence will become increasingly nonbiological and trillions of times more powerful than it is today—the dawning of a new civilization that will enable us to transcend our biological limitations and amplify our creativity. In this new world, there will be no clear distinction between human and machine, real reality and virtual reality. We will be able to assume different bodies and take on a range of personae at will. In practical terms, human aging and illness will be reversed; pollution will be stopped; world hunger and poverty will be solved. Nanotechnology will make it possible to create virtually any physical product using inexpensive information processes and will ultimately turn even death into a soluble problem.
While the social and philosophical ramifications of these changes will be profound, and the threats they pose considerable, The Singularity Is Near maintains a radically optimistic view of the future course of human development. As such, it offers a view of the coming age that is both a dramatic culmination of centuries of technological ingenuity and a genuinely inspiring vision of our ultimate destiny.
I read that one a couple years ago. There were several threads on it or that referenced it. The best part of the book is the notes that follow the main presentation. It's worth looking at, but it isn't the big book of the century since it has no philosophy. Although it is a big book and very well printed.
Do you mean 'even more than normal?" LOL
Spiritual matters are a whole different arena.
The attempt to pretend that because I am a Christian, I am guaranteed to be anti-science and anti-medicine is specious. Witness the use of this computer and the internet.
Medicine and the creative powers God gave us can be used for good OR evil.
Be VERY careful.
Could you elaborate on this statement?
How do you define "playing God"?
What did God "never intend us [humans] to do"?
And I'm sure you've racked your brain thinking of things that could be done, and after exhaustively thinking about the options for such a long time, you finally concluded that there's no way.
No, you wouldn't just be going on presumption or anything.
You're still not seeing the distinction. This isn't about what God supposedly intended. Playing God is something completely different. Even an atheist would be able to understand the problem with that.
If Resistance is Futile?...Is Futility infinite "Ohms"?
Kurzweil as in synthesizer? Keyboard? Music Sampling? Piano?
Hey, all those thoughts are completely unsolicited!
Dear Jerry,
That's the true spirit only made possible through the Holy Spirit!
BTW, who's leading the charge on this whole idea of man and machine becoming God? Can't remember what Church Father said "There are no new heresies" Just the lies that men and lesser beings spin allowing them the failed notion that they somehow can transend God. That is utter foolishness, IMHO!
That one doesn't have philosophy, but it does have poetic enlightenment. It will do until a philosopher comes along.
Redefining "the very nature of what it means to be human", as per your introductory comments.
What did God "never intend us [humans] to do"?
I never said there was any such thing. I was just making a contrast between the developments that Kurzweil is talking about, and what people said about previous technological developments. They're of a fundamentally different nature from each other.
Hey, happy to see you found the "V". A lot of FReepers don't seem to remember the miniseries. Loved it when they ate democRATS!
I never intended to suggest you are a Luddite.
"Medicine and the creative powers God gave us can be used for good OR evil."
I believe vastly greater technological power SHOULD be used to promote vastly greater good.
I am a Christian too.
"Be VERY careful."
Be more specific. Exactly what should I be very careful of?
My mistake. I believe that individuality is a right, not just an option.
Possibly. I do know that Kurzweil has done a great deal of work in the fields of voice recognition and artificial intelligence.
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