Kurzweil on the Future

dwrugh writes "With these new tools, [Kurzweil] says, by the 2020s we'll be adding computers to our brains and building machines as smart as ourselves. This serene confidence is not shared by neuroscientists like Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, who discussed future brains with Dr. Kurzweil at the festival. It might be possible to create a thinking, empathetic machine, Dr. Ramachandran said, but it might prove too difficult to reverse-engineer the brain's circuitry because it evolved so haphazardly. 'My colleague Francis Crick used to say that God is a hacker, not an engineer,' Dr. Ramachandran said. 'You can do reverse engineering, but you can't do reverse hacking.'"

Comments

Re:mid-age life crisis

[Sabathius]

Ok, putting his credentials aside. Where is your research to prove he's wrong? Have you written a book? published any papers? Have you done any research whatsoever (besides looking up an entry on Wikipedia)?

Until you can show some evidence about your claim that he's wrong...I'm going to stick with my opinion that he's right. (based on reading several of his books and watching his predictions on computing power come to pass) You obviously don't agree (based on what--I don't know), and that's fine.

Just to let you know, humanity has a track-record of success in terms of technology people have said was "not possible". Lots of people said heavier-than-air flight would never happen--or flying fater than the speed of sound. Many said humanity would never enter space, or land on the moon. You said wishful thinking?! There are technological miricles happening every day.

Here's one regarding the prosthetic limb someone mentioned was not ready for prime-time:

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/82

It's only about 3 minutes long. Check it out.

So, again, I say: It's bullshit? Prove it's bullshit. Or shut the fuck up. Watch it happen--just like all of the other technological marvels humanity has successfully created, and continues to create.