The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology Summary and Reviews

The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
by Ray Kurzweil

The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
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Book Summary Information

Author: Ray Kurzweil
Edition: Paperback
Published: 2006-09-26
ISBN: 0143037889
Number of pages: 672
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)

Book Reviews of The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology

Book Review: A gripping look to the future, and the technology once there
Summary: 5 Stars

Ray Kurzweil isn't renowned for his authoring talents and is better known for his inventions. I remember many years ago owning a copy of Kerzweil's voice recognition program (I forget the exact title) and being impressed with its accuracy. Kerzweil is also renowned for his work in digital music and a vast array of other fields.

In this book the author expands on his vision of the future as he sees it in the next 50 years. The main thrust of the book is that Moore's law is continuing and as such computing power is increasing exponentially (exponentials are a large part of this book). The premise that as computing power increases dramatically we will be able to create even more technology, with the aim to "uploading" ourselves into our computers. This at first seems like science fiction but be assured that the author looks at every detail and examines the feasibility of each stage of his premise. The results are startling, and I must admit give me a strange feeling in the gut of my stomach when I realised the full breadth of his suggestions.

This book could be considered a sequel to the author's previous books, the Age of Intelligent Machines, and the Age of Spiritual Machines. However you don't need to have read these previous books to understand the concepts involved. A basic understanding of genetics and nanotechnology would help, but are not required.

I don't know if the authors predictions will come to pass (And I honestly hope they do!) but I would recommend this book to anyone seriously interested in the future and who wants to prepare themselves in advance.

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