The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology

		ISBN13 9780143037880 Condition New 52 New From  $ 10.99 34 Used From  $ 8.98
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Customer Reviews
Inspiring, but a tough read 2010-07-01 I love the idea of the singularity. I think Ray Kurzweil is a god among men. His enthusiasm and passion make me want to believe. But it may take my entire life to finish reading this book. It's dense and not very beginner-friendly for those of us who want to learn more about the topic. Don't let that discourage you though. This is really powerful, interesting stuff.
Well-organized and very thought-provoking 2010-06-11 The Singularity is Near is a book about future technology and how it will affect mankind. The author is a well-known inventor and futurist. The "Singularity" refers to a time when artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence, like a supercomputer. Kurzweil believes that time is coming very soon. Advances in several fields -- computer technology, genetics, robotics, biomedicine and nanotechnology -- will all advance and merge to become the next evolutionary step of mankind. Kurzweil sees the elimination of all disease and pollution, and believes our lifespans will increase dramatically. He believes these advances will happen in our lifetime. His ideas are interesting and even frightening at times. The book was technical and difficult to read at times, but well-organized and very thought-provoking.
Mike Jorgensen's Review of Kurzweil's The Singularity is Near 2010-06-01 Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2G7UYICWG61Q2 Mike Jorgensen's review was made as part of a critical review assignment for the Spring 2010 Economics of Technology seminar at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, taught by Art Diamond. (The course syllabus stated that part of the critical review assignment consisted of the making of a video recording of the review, and the posting of the review to Amazon.)
Not Quite 2010-04-27 A new hope to escape our human reality. With high tech parts we will evolve into something new and better. The author argues that the combination of computers, bioengineering, etc. will all come together to produce a super humanity. I've heard these arguments and hopes before from: Religions, political despots, and other desperate groups of people.
Kurzweil's at it again (one-trick pony) 2010-04-26 In 1992, which is (ahem) EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO, Kurzweil published "The Age of Intelligent Machines." In 2001, he published "The Age of Spiritual Machines." In 2005, he published "The Singularity is Near." In all those years (decades) I have not seen ANY progress made in the domain of "intelligent machines." (I'm still running Windows, and Mac freaks are still bragging about their Macs. :-) )(And, no, I do not count machines which can "sort of" take dictation, with no understanding of language, "intelligent.") This guy reminds me of Paul Ehrlich, who made a fine living predicting the end of the world from overpopulation over the same period of time. I think he did 3 or 4 books as well, all of them totally wrong. Wake me when computers are sentient, and can speak a natural language. Or, to put it simply, wake me when I can put a human child in front of a "machine" and ask the machine "Is this a boy or a girl?" and get the right answer.