Bright future?
Hi,
I’ve been having thoughts about what the future holds in terms of technological developments. I’ve been aware of Ray Kurzweil’s work for a while now, but my interest in his predictions has resurfaced. If you go to www.youtube.com, Kurzweil gives an extremely interesting overview of his thinking. If YouTube isn’t working for you, the video is also available at www.ted.com (scroll down to find it).
Of course, it’s easy to accept Kurzweil’s predictions as fact, given that they’re so fantastically optimistic, not to mention exciting. Having done a Philosophy of Social Science course this year, I’m familiar with Karl Popper’s philosophy of science. I’d probably label myself as a Popperian, and so I remind myself that, as Popper argued, the future cannot reliably be predicted. But Kurzweil has compelling arguments for his position, based upon solid, empirical data. There’s definitely a debate to be had here.
At this point, I’m not sure that Kurzweil’s vision will be realised; I’d rather say that I’m fairly confident that it will. What I can be more certain of is that there is the potential for the kind of technological progression that Kurzweil talks about.
Imagine what our lives will be like if that potential is fulfilled.
- Chris
