A Chilling Merger

Evolution's Radical Future

The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. By Ray Kurzweil. Viking Press
excerpts from James Gardner's review:

On the fusion of human and machine intelligence: In the post-Singularity era, techno-futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts, there will no distinction between human beings and their technologies. As we merge with our machines, we will become something more than merely human.

The Borg-like hybrid entity that is our evolutionary destiny will, in Kurzweil's words, "match and then vastly exceed the refinement and suppleness of what we regard as the best of human traits." But, alas, from the "perspective of unenhanced biological humanity" this future state of affairs "will appear to rupture the fabric of human history."

The only thing that will remain unequivocally human in such a world will be what Kurzweil regards as the defining trait of our humanity: the instinct to "extend [humankind's] physical and mental reach beyond current limitations."

Jeff's take on all this: walk on any college campus today and you can see the fusion has already begun. There are legions of students who do not differentiate themselves from their technology (cell phones). Totally scary!

Lincoln Info Worth Knowing

In 1849, a future president patented an ingenious addition to transportation technology as report by Smithsonian magazine.

Upon hearing the name Abraham Lincoln, many images may come to mind: rail-splitter, country lawyer, young congressman, embattled president, Great Emancipator, assassin's victim, even the colossal face carved into Mount Rushmore. One aspect of this multidimensional man that probably doesn't occur to anyone other than avid readers of Lincoln biographies (and Smithsonian) is that of inventor. Yet before he became the 16th president of the United States, Lincoln, who had a long fascination with how things worked, invented a flotation system for lifting riverboats stuck on sandbars.

Great Expectations

"Technology reduces the amount of time it takes to do any one task but also leads to the expansion of tasks that people are expected to do." --Juliet Schor

Info on Demand: Boon or Bane?

Apple announced the iPhone at its annual Macworld expo. Steve Jobs called the iPhone a "revolutionary mobile phone" that will feature an iPod, phone and "Internet communicator."