Singularity Is Near [Import] [Paperback]

Ray Kurzweil (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 683 pages
• Publisher: DUCKWORTH G (March 9, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0715635611
• ISBN-13: 978-0715635612
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,728,030 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ray Kurzweil is a prize-winning author and scientist. He was named Inventor of the Year by MIT in 1988 and was awarded the Dickson Prize, Carnegie Mellon's top science prize, in 1994. He is the recipient of nine honorary doctorates and honors from two American presidents. He lives outside Boston, Massachusetts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars more mind bending than science fiction, June 26, 2011

By 

Joseph Arrigo "Author" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology (Paperback)

Scientist, author, and futurist, Ray Kurtzweil, the recipient of nine honorary doctorates, writes about a not too distant future that is so unbelievable, it's beyond science fiction, This book will amaze your senses.

Within the next 30 years, we humans, because of the vastly superior intelligence computers will attain, will merge with them becoming billions of times more intelligent than we are now. He speaks of a future where we will be enjoying disease free lives as nanobots traveling within our bodies destroy cancer cells, slurp-up toxins, and repair our DNA; virtual reality that will incorporate all our senses and be indistinguishable from reality, and, the possibility of immortality. People will be able to eat whatever and as much as they like and remain lean and healthy, or, if they wish opt not get nutrition from food by having these nanobots customize what nutrients that individual needs and then deliver them into the bloodstream. These are some of the fantastic scenarios Kurtzweil predicts.

If that time period seems short to you in relation to the developments he outlines, it's because you haven't, as Ray has, factored in the exponential growth of computer power, calculated by Moore's law--doubling every year--giving rise to artificial intelligence where computers will become conscious, and trillions of times more intelligent than humans. Exponential growth may seem linear at first, but it has a way exploding in a very short period of time. As an example, from the beginning of man, it took until the year 1830 for the world to reach a population of one billion; from that point on we are now close to seven billion.

It's a big book, and at times too technical for the lay person to understand, however, there's plenty there for most of us to comprehend, such as the chapter titled, The Impact.

Joe Arrigo

Author of, The Secret Factor for Uncommon Sales Success

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking, frightening but strangely logical...., March 9, 2011

By 

Graham - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Singularity is Near (Kindle Edition)

This book opens your eyes to where human evolution may be headed.

Kurzweil begins by suggesting that evolution actually follows an exponential curve of growth and thus we can no longer consider linear projection methods based on past events. According to him we are on the knee of that exponential curve having come from the previous phases that included matter and chemistry, DNA and Brains, up to the current phase of evolution which he states as that of technology development. Apparently our technological developments are on the verge of massive activity as we gear up for the next evolutionary phase which is.......wait for it......."The Merger of Technology and Human Intelligence". We are headed for a time where human biology is obsolete and outdated, where human and artificial intelligence are indistinguishable.

Far fetched? Maybe the time frames are optimistic and the ramifications full of uncertainty but there is something very logical about his argumentation.

A must read but not an easy one!