Longevity underestimated? (Ray Kurzweil Ted Talk)

[HFWR]

Back on Kurzweil, I think he is a crackpot. Who else takes a few hundred pills each day of dubious supplements?

That...

 

[sengsational]

Back on Kurzweil, I think he is a crackpot. Who else takes a few hundred pills each day of dubious supplements?

If people think he's a crackpot, then he's doing something right because before ideas are accepted, they are looked at with suspicion (Gregor Mendel with his genetics, and Ignaz Semmelweis with his hand washing before birthing are a few examples.

Not saying all crackpots will turn out to be right though, hehe! Way more crackpots than those that turn out to be geniuses ahead of their time.

 

[NW-Bound]

I don't follow Kurzweil that much, but have read books by medical researchers who are nowhere as optimistic about advances in medicine as non-medical experts.

Even in his own field of AI, Kurzweil has been wildly optimistic.

"Supercomputers will achieve one human brain capacity by 2010, and personal computers will do so by about 2020." -- Kurzweil (date unknown)

“By the end of this decade, computers will disappear as distinct physical objects, with displays built in our eyeglasses, and electronics woven in our clothing, providing full-immersion visual virtual reality.” -- Kurzweil (2006)

I also found something interesting that he wrote.

"Death gives meaning to our lives. It gives importance and value to time. Time would become meaningless if there were too much of it." -- Kurzweil

 

[sengsational]

Interesting link I found about Kurzweil predictions in "The Singularity is Near"... https://www.antropy.co.uk/blog/the-singularity-is-near-how-kurzweils-predictions-are-faring/


The author of that article suggests that out of the 25 predictions, 6 came true.

 

[MichaelB]

Interesting link I found about Kurzweil predictions in "The Singularity is Near"... https://www.antropy.co.uk/blog/the-singularity-is-near-how-kurzweils-predictions-are-faring/


The author of that article suggests that out of the 25 predictions, 6 came true.

Perhaps for Kurzwell “near” is relative to the total of human existence on earth. In that case “near” might be 30,000 years from now.

 

[DatumPoint5]

Perhaps for Kurzwell “near” is relative to the total of human existence on earth. In that case “near” might be 30,000 years from now.

Wow! Good "out of the box" take on this issue...