Kurzweil, Shatner - Dreams Coming True

The new documentary on Raymond Kurzweil looks pretty amazing. He is a technology and future predictor, whose proclamations are often correct (human genome mapping, the internet, the collapse of the soviet union, a computer beating a human chess champion, etc...). The recent big one focuses on the singularlity - a point at which biology and technology are so intermingled they are indistinguishable. I've written about this a lot here, but I can't stop thinking about it - he thinks it will happen right around 2029.

An interesting parallel to Darwin (and maybe a reason he's sometimes regarded as a crackpot), Kurzweil believes he can resurrect his father with DNA and robots. Darwin himself was often quoted as believing in an afterlife and/or God - in particular, during the time when his mother and sister died, which he was heartsick over. Even the most brilliant people can be somewhat deluded it seems. Deluded or not, he believes this evolution of technology will allow him (and maybe all of us) to live forever.

The trailer is great, it really paints him as Vonnegut-like character - half evil genius, half prophet, mostly misunderstood. Towards the end, you can tell the type of backlash he must often receive from bible thumping, fear-mongers frightened he's playing God. Then again, it's nice to hear a quote from Stevie Wonder (a major God believer) praising him, "he is using the gift he was given for the betterment of human kind." Kurzweil is of course also famous for his unique brand of electric keyboards, of which Stevie is a big fan.

There is a showing of this at the Tribeca Film Festival Friday night, anyone got a spare ticket??

Oh yeah, the reason I have to see this now is because it seems to include an unironic interview with THE William Shatner about eternal life.