Kurzweil's theory doesn't necessitate my full explanation. In short, he states that in 2029 we will have technologically advanced (especially through biotech, quantum computing, and genetic modification) far enough that our technologies, our computers and our networks, will be tied in as one with our biological selves. Some people believe this is complete hootenanny, while many people agree that this seems like a theory worth listening to. To add some credit to Kurzweil's theory, he has correctly predicted the creation of the internet along with other current technologies not only in description, but in time.
Another part of this theory that becomes a bigger picture piece is the fact that strongly backed and widely believed theories like this end up becoming more-or-less true either because people force them in that direction (through science, marketing, change in public image), or people justify seeing them as having happened, i.e. in 2029 we may have computer screens implanted in our skin, and some people might take that to be some sort of singularity. Part of this is a social movement towards technology. Another part of this has to do with the people making, creating, and solving major technological movements - usually "nerds." In Lawrence Krauss's The Physics of Star Trek, he makes the major argument that sci-fi - things like Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, science fiction books even bleeding into Kurzweil's realm of futurism - are a major force in where we go with technology because the people creating technology find their inspiration in their joy. Their love for the ideas of new technologies and advanced computers is not founded by the enjoyment of taking in these creative works, but it is certainly fueled by it. Who doesn't want to be beamed back home at the end of the day? Who doesn't want to take the load of their brain and their body with benefits of biotechnology?
All I know it it has to be better than a Josh Hartnett movie.
This is one of my favorite posts; I love the long derisive argument collapsing into surrender of the home at the end. IT reads like a poem- and as a poet, I am intrigued. Yes, the course is largely based on the idea of people thinking about stuff before it happens. Where does this come from? In my paper on cybernetics and spirituality, I argued that it may come from a higher power ( our ideas) or another alien planet- or whathaveyou. I am particularly interested in Kurzweil's theory of time. I can see time speeding up everyday. I tell people all the time to get ready, but I am not sided with the end of the world guy...
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