Ray Kurzweil is a Director of Engineering at Google. He is an expert futurist who has so far provided correct predictions for our general technological advances. He is also an inventor, writer, and an expert in the field of Artificial Intelligence. He became famous for his theories about the upcoming Singularity.
Continue to read an unofficial but relevant background profile.
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Ray Kurzweil is hugely respected by those who subscribe to his theories; Forbes has called him the “ultimate thinking machine”, the Wall Street Journal “the restless genius”, Inc. Magazine “the rightful heir of Thomas Edison”, and PBS has listed him among the 16 “revolutionaries who made America”.
He received the US National Medal of Technology in 1999, the nation’s highest honor in technology, from President Clinton in a White House ceremony, and the $500,000 MIT-Lemelson Prize, the worlds largest for innovation. He has received many many more awards and honers, including nineteen honorary doctorates, and honors from three U.S. presidents.
Skepticism about his theories
There is no doubt about it, Kurzweil is a legend in the field of technology. This may shock you then: The majority of what is predicted possible to happen within the next 35 years by That’s Really Possible, is also believed by Kurzweil. Before we talk about his theories we will quickly address the scepticism.
If you are reading this without knowing much about things such as the singularity, transhumanism, the internet of things, and most importantly exponential growth, you are likely to be one of the sceptics of our’s and Kurzweil’s theories. We urge you to please keep reading with an open mind. As you find out more about the upcoming possibilities, you will likely agree with many of Kurzweil’s theories. What you will learn is not popular knowledge yet, and we are not asking you to change your opinion, we are asking you to learn in order to form an educated one.
Kurzweil’s Predictions
His most famous prediction is with reference to the technological singularity, the point in the near future when the rate of technological advancement gets to a speed that will immediately enable inconceivable further advances, often called an intelligence explosion. Kurzweil predicts that this could happen around 2045.
Concerning our future energy needs, Kurzweil thinks that within 20 years we will not be reliant on oil any more, that we will instead be self-sufficient and all of our energy needs will be supplied by solar-power. This solar-power will be captured via more advanced methods than what we use today, so don’t expect to see the world lined with those unsightly panels.
When talking about the possibility of human immortality, many people laugh off the possibility. Ray Kurzweil asserts that we will likely become immortal within 20 years. When hearing this the instinct is to prevent your hopes from being raised, after all, most religious beliefs are based on the premise of mortality. For more information about how immortality is possible much sooner than many think, visit our central information page about immortality.
Click here to view many more predictions and how they are faring so far.
Should we take these predictions seriously?
Judging by his previous predictions which have almost all turned out to be correct then yes, most definitely. At That’s Really Possible though we remain skeptical of all predictions; if a slight doubt arises in a theory then we reassess our stance.
The reason that we show caution when considering Ray Kurzweil’s theories is due to his relative blind spot – future security; Kurzweil is an expert in technology but not relatively an expert in international relations, organised crime, incompatible ideologies, extreme versions of religions, and causes of conflict and terrorism. We believe that disagreements, conflicts and terrorism are likely to have a negative impact on Ray Kurzweil’s predictions.
His predictions though are certainly possible and the time frames seem accurate based on technological trends. What we need to do in order to achieve them is proceed with caution. Security must be our #1 priority, closely followed by the safeguarding of our freedoms. We cannot over optimistically assume that these advances will come to pass.
For more information, visit Ray Kurzweil’s website.
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