• DocumentCode
    1234618
  • Title

    The consciousness conundrum

  • Author

    Horgan, John

  • Volume
    45
  • Issue
    6
  • fYear
    2008
  • fDate
    6/1/2008 12:00:00 AM
  • Firstpage
    36
  • Lastpage
    41
  • Abstract
    Notably, singularity enthusiasts tend to be computer specialists, such as the author and retired computer scientist Vernor Vinge, the roboticist Hans Moravec, and the entrepreneur Ray Kurzweil. Intoxicated by the explosive progress of information technologies captured by Moore\´s Law, such singularitarians foresee a "merger of biological and nonbiological intelligence," as Kurzweil puts it, that will culminate in "immortal software-based humans." It will happen not within a millennium, or a century, but no later than 2030, according to Vinge. These guys - and, yes, they\´re all men - are serious. Kurzweil says he has adopted an antiaging regimen so that he\´ll "live long enough to live".
  • Keywords
    social aspects of automation; societies; consciousness conundrum; immortal software-based humans; information technology; nonbiological intelligence; singularity enthusiasts; Biology computing; Boosting; Entropy; Hair; Knee; Nerve fibers; Neurons; Pharmaceutical technology; TV; Wires;
  • fLanguage
    English
  • Journal_Title
    Spectrum, IEEE
  • Publisher
    ieee
  • ISSN
    0018-9235
  • Type

    jour

  • DOI
    10.1109/MSPEC.2008.4531459
  • Filename
    4531459