Saturday, April 12, 2008

The singularity

Wired's April issue has got a piece on Ray Kurzweil and his "singularity" mission. I think this is far-fetched - I don't think we will get pass this singularity (death) in the next 15-20 years - especially that machines will evolve to be conscious in the immediate future.

Kurzweil does not believe in half measures. He takes 180 to 210 vitamin
and mineral supplements a day, so many that he doesn't have time to
organize them all himself. So he's hired a pill wrangler, who takes
them out of their bottles and sorts them into daily doses, which he
carries everywhere in plastic bags. Kurzweil also spends one day a week
at a medical clinic, receiving intravenous longevity treatments. The
reason for his focus on optimal health should be obvious: If the
singularity is going to render humans immortal by the middle of this
century, it would be a shame to die in the interim. To perish of a
heart attack just before the singularity occurred would not only be sad
for all the ordinary reasons, it would also be tragically bad luck,
like being the last soldier shot down on the Western Front moments
before the armistice was proclaimed.

No comments: