The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology

by Ray Kurzweil

In my presentations I frequently refer to an amazing book entitled The Age of Spiritual Machines, by the great inventor & futurist Ray Kurzweil. Kurzweil is one of the best-known & controversial advocates for the role of machines in the future of humanity. In his latest, thrilling foray into the future, he envisions an event - the "singularity" - in which technological change becomes so rapid & so profound that our bodies & brains will merge with our machines.

The Singularity Is Near portrays what life will be like after this event - a human-machine civilization where our experiences shift from real reality to virtual reality & where our intelligence becomes non-biological & trillions of times more powerful than unaided human intelligence. In practical terms, this means that human aging & pollution will be reversed, world hunger will be solved, & our bodies & environment transformed by nanotechnology to overcome the limitations of biology, including death.

We will be able to create virtually any physical product just from information, resulting in radical wealth creation. In addition to outlining these fantastic changes, Kurzweil also considers their social & philosophical ramifications. With its radical but optimistic view of the course of human development, The Singularity Is Near is certain to be one of the most widely discussed & provocative books I’ve read in a long time.