The Science Fiction Review Books,Technology Humans to become immortal cyborgs within 20 years?

Humans to become immortal cyborgs within 20 years?

About a year an a half ago, I reviewed The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil. I never did get around to reading his slightly newer book, The Singularity is Near. I just ran across an article that quotes him as saying

I and many other scientists now believe that in around 20 years we will have the means to reprogram our bodies’ stone-age software so we can halt, then reverse, aging. Then nanotechnology will let us live for ever.

He goes on to describe a number of medical advancements that seem unbelievable.  He doesn’t really expand on how many people, or rather WHO will have access to this technology.  We can’t very well have billions of immortal cyborgs running around for eternity, now can we? I think that those denied immortality, or at least extended life-spans, would wage war against those that would keep the technology for themselves.

Credit: Telegraph via Geekologie

Note: For those of you not familiar with Geekolgie, be sure to check that blog out.  I added it to my newsreader about 2 months ago and it keeps me entertained every day!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Please prove you are a human * Time limit is exhausted. Please reload the CAPTCHA.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Post

The Caves of Steel by Isaac AsimovThe Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov

Caves of Steel Book Cover

This is the first in a series of the Robot Novels by Isaac Asimov. The main characters in this book are Elijah “Lije” Baley, a plainclothes cop, and R. Daneel Olivaw, a humaniform robot. The story takes place on futuristic Earth, approximately 3021 AD. Earth is heavily populated and most cities are mostly underground and interconnected. The major Cities such as New York are referred to with the capital C because of their massive size. New York City’s population is somewhere around 20million and Earth’s population tops 8 billion. Some people criticize Asimov by because Earth’s population will top 8 billion by 2020 according to many calculations. We have to remember that this is just a fiction book written in the 1950’s after all. These massive Cities are essentially enclosed underground and agoraphobia is common among most of the population. (more…)

Pebble in the Sky by Isaac AsimovPebble in the Sky by Isaac Asimov

Pebble in the Sky book cover

The book opens up in 1949 on the day of a mysterious accident at Chicago’s Institute of Nuclear Research. Joseph Schwartz, while walking around on the other side of Chicago is somehow caught in an expanding beam of energy that transports him into an unfamiliar place. Actually, he has not traveled to another place but another time. Earth’s land is largely covered in radioactive soil, so that it can only support 20 million people. The result of this is the common practice of terminating anyone that cannot work or when they reach the age of sixty as a form of strict population control. Most people don’t resent this practice but rather look at as a way for making room for the young. (more…)

I, Robot – The Illustrated Screenplay by Harlan EllisonI, Robot – The Illustrated Screenplay by Harlan Ellison

It has been almost 4 years since the movie I, Robot (2004) was released. I was terribly disappointed that the Hollywood movie was barely anything like the book of short stories that I remembered reading, which I explained in my review. After browsing the Internet looking for other reactions I discovered that a screenplay written by Harlan Ellison had received a glowing review from Isaac Asimov.

–edit– 4-16-2008
I just ran across this interesting NPR story from 2004 that talks about the fan reaction to the original I, Robot movie. There are a few comments from Harlan Ellison and Irving Kirchner, director of The Empire Strikes Back, as one the prospective directors. The audio story is available in Real Media and Windows Media Player formats.
–edit–

(more…)