Transcendent Man
If there is a Bacchic like movement in the age of cyber-technology, the followers walk in the wake of Ray Kurzweil. Scientist, Inventor, Theologian? Cult-Leader? Kurzweil speaks from a position eerily close to a prophet or Tiresias. He is seen as a source of revelation when it comes to predictions about future technologies. He claims to have predicted the world wide web back in the 80’s, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the date of the mapping of the human genome. Furthermore, he predicts that the exponential rate of growth within information and communication technologies will lead to a point in which man must meld with machine in order to continue to survive. He predicts that by 2045 a singularity event will occur on the limits of our current conceptual horizon that will radically alter our conception of consciousness and complexity.
Labels: cult
posted by Unknown @ 9:45 PM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
Didn't we read about Kurzweil and the singularity already once in class? It's been a while so I'm no longer sure if it was the same guy, but nonetheless it's an interesting concept. However, I'm not so optimistic about transhumanism - though a number of physical problems will become completely alleviated, I'm willing to bet that humanity will go on being just as hostile, malicious, and xenophobic of one another as they are now, just in metal and polymer bodies. You can take the person out of the human, but you can't take the human out of the person.
Singularity is an odd concept. I don't think this guy should be given as much weight as he is given. It is the same type of prophetic ethos coming from the "world is ending in 2012" crew. It is paranoia-inducing and not productive. I do think there is something to keeping a check on our technological advancement, though.
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