I have been reading a book this week — the old-fashion kind with paper pages — Ray Kurzweil’s The Singularity is Near (2005). Kurzweil is an inventor, futurist and Baby Boomer who believes that he and other Boomers just might be able to live long enough to live forever.
Even though the book was a best-seller in 2005 and proclaimed the 13th most blogged about book of 2005 by the NY Times, I somehow missed it. I had heard of or read eight of the first twelve books on the list, so it isn’t that I am completely out of the loop. (Oddly, the 14th most blogged about book for that year was Orwell’s 1984. This suggests to me that there is a lot of paranoia on the Web.)
Anyway, I was surprised that I hadn’t heard about Kurzweil until recently because living forever happens to be one of my ambitions. According to Kurzweil, we just may be able to do it; “we” includes Baby Boomers who take care of themselves enough to last another 30 years or so. By then, accelerating advances in bio-tech, nano-tech and computer science should guarantee anyone who wants it immortality. You will, of course, have to get intimate with machines; that is, become a machine yourself. Some may see this as a drawback, especially if you get stuck in a computer running, say, Windows 2038. (I think this will be one time to spend a little more and go with a Mac.) Then there is the question of room-mates. What if you get stuck with neighbors you can’t stand and you can’t get away from them ever for all time? However, from the scientific perspective, being dead also has clear drawbacks for any organism. And it makes it harder to get credit or a good table.
Kurzweil calls this approaching change the “Singularity” because it will be a one-time event in human history — perhaps in the history of the universe. He thinks that the destiny of the universe is to achieve a maximum state of information. Merging human intelligence (including emotional intelligence) with artificial intelligence is a big step toward fulfilling that destiny.
It sounds a little nuts in summary — a geeky, secular version of The Rapture. And there is a risk that if we don’t handle things just right, trillions of malevolent nanobots will take over and destroy us all. Those of us who are getting up there in years and facing oblivion in the next couple of decades, give or take, may be willing to accept the risk. But is it right to gamble the future of humanity to achieve personal immortality? Or for once in our self-centered lives, ought we just to go gentle into that good night?
Macy Swain | 17-May-09 at 12:52 pm | Permalink
Excellent — if somewhat creepy — post, Jim. Having had one of those winters where I thought my body and soul were simply going to hell in a handbasket, and feeling betrayed by chemistry, I wonder about the pros and cons of messing with the natural order. We boomers always acted like we’d live forever anyway, but I wonder if our supposed increased “emotional intelligence” will ultimately nudge our self-centered little Narcissus inclinations toward accepting….uh…death. Yikes. No way.
Mitch | 17-May-09 at 5:00 pm | Permalink
Excellence with a dash of creepiness is what I aim for. Interestingly, I would use much the same terms to describe the book. As for “emotional intelligence,” I hope the machines will adopt Ghandi’s, say, and not Hitler’s!
Mitch | 17-May-09 at 5:39 pm | Permalink
I should also note that Kurzweil does not think we have the choice I suggest at the end of my post. He thinks the Singularity will come, regardless of what we do or don’t do. But our actions will affect the nature of the transition.
Cathy | 18-May-09 at 8:50 am | Permalink
I wonder if the author OD’d on Star Trek in his youth.
Mitch Gann’s :: Just how near did you say the Singularity is? | 24-May-09 at 8:11 pm | Permalink
[...] week after I wrote about Ray Kurzweil here, the New York Times picked up the scent in “The Coming [...]