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Posted on Aug 19, 2005, 6 a.m.
By Bill Freeman
Most of us will become gods. And not one of those wimpy anthropomorphic gods from Greek myth, but gods trillions of times more intelligent than mere mortal men. Such is the thesis of Ray Kurzweil, who argues in The Singularity Is Near that humanity is inexorably headed towards the Singularity.
Most of us will become gods. And not one of those wimpy anthropomorphic gods from Greek myth, but gods trillions of times more intelligent than mere mortal men. Such is the thesis of Ray Kurzweil, who argues in The Singularity Is Near that humanity is inexorably headed towards the Singularity.
The singularity is a future period in which technological progress becomes so rapid that it radically transforms humankind. To picture the singularity imagine computers trillions of times smarter than Newton, Einstein and Edison inventing new technologies while continually enhancing their own abilities. Ray Kurzweil argues that the Singularity will occur around 2045.
Although godhood by 2045 seems like the conclusion of a lunatic, the genius of The Singularity is Near lies in showing that humanity already has tremendous technological momentum that almost has to carry us into the Singularity. And this momentum comes from the doubling every year of the power per dollar of information technology.
