Ray Kurzweil and the question of artificial immortality

Via Business Week:

Charlie Rose Talks to Ray Kurzweil

The author, inventor, and futurist says accelerating technology will soon bring us immortality—and all the energy the earth requires

I'm interested in this notion of a coming singularity—computers surpassing humans—and your obsession with immortality. What led you there?
I really started with this exploration of where technology is headed and the tremendous power of exponential growth. So where radical life extension comes from is the observation that biology is a set of software processes. We have software running in our bodies. It's out of date. It evolved thousands of years ago. Our approach so far to health and medicine has been hit-or-miss. We find treatments accidentally. Here's something that lowers blood pressure. We don't know why it works. Now we're actually gaining access to that software, understanding how it works. These technologies will double in power every year. They'll be 1,000 times more powerful in 10 years, a million times more powerful in 20 years. What I'm looking forward to is the tipping point where we're adding more time than is going by in terms of life expectancy. The sands of time will start running in rather than running out within a couple decades.

What about this idea of humans merging with technology?
There are already people putting computers in their bodies and brains. Parkinson's patients, deaf people with cochlear implants, computerized pancreases. Ultimately we'll do it non-invasively because another exponential progression is that they're getting smaller and smaller. You know, this [holding up a smartphone] was the size of a building when I was a student. And it will be the size of a blood cell one day—and much more powerful. We'll be able to send very powerful devices into our bodies that will keep us healthy, extend our thinking. This might as well be in my body and brain because it's part of who I am.

Where does the human experience begin and end? Is it unrealistic to assume that our current form is the ultimate end of a human being or will our technology become more of a part of our identity as time progresses?

A modern seer and futurist, Kurzweil has been on the money in the past regarding the uses of technology. If cybernetic implants are becoming more common and an expected part of growing old, how will it impact our sense of existence?

There are whispered rumors and hints throughout literature and even historical documents that state others have been successful in achieving this end. One such example is the urban legend of Sam Bailey. A small but devoted group of filmmakers has been developing a movie that will expose the truth behind the legend.

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Demand Sam Bailey