Read The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology Online
Authors: Ray Kurzweil
Tags: #Non-Fiction, #Fringe Science, #Retail, #Technology, #Amazon.com
dangers of, 206, 403, 409
defined, 92, 260
friendly, 409, 420, 424, 598
n
–599
n
at human levels, 260, 262
nanotechnology and, 261–262, 412, 426
runaway, 24, 262–263, 569
n
skepticism about, 292
wealth creation from, 13, 396–397
Strout, Joseph, 326
student matching program, 2–3, 497
n
subatomic particles, 85, 133, 198, 355
computing with, 138–139, 141, 351
transformed energy states in, 403–404
subconscious, 318
subjective experience, 378–380, 386, 388, 467
subneural models, 169–172, 541
n
subtraction paradigm, 161
sucrose, 248
suffering, 321, 373, 374–375, 423
alleviation of, 224, 311, 379, 406, 409–410
of animals, 224, 379
sugar, 220, 248
see also
glucose
sun, 349–351, 591
n
Sung, J. C., 552
n
Sung, Kah-Kay, 546
n
Sun Tzu, 105
supercomputers, 231, 261, 312, 535
n
Blue Gene/L,
71
, 125, 482, 533
n
Blue Gene/P, 71,
71
human intelligence emulated by, 25, 70,
70
, 71,
71
, 125, 150, 196, 533
n
protein folding and, 209
superconducting, superconductors, 119, 451
superconducting wires, 246
superintelligence, 259–260
runaway AI and, 262, 569
n
supernova explosion, 23
supply chains, optimizing of, 271
surgery, 307, 317
brain, 315–316, 386
intracellular, 162–163
optical imaging and, 161
plastic, 310
transplant, 418, 598
n
surveillance:
by law enforcement organizations, 413, 421, 424
military, 281, 334
spybots and, 406–407
survival, 90, 152, 325, 396
digestive system and, 301–302
economic imperative as, 96
as evolutionary purpose, 38, 39, 41, 96
family size and, 433
grandmother hypothesis and, 218–219
terrorism and, 421
of virus outbreaks, 402
in warfare, 330–331,
331
, 334
Susskind, Leonard, 360, 361, 362, 364
Svoboda, Karel, 171–172, 541
n
, 542
n
swarm intelligence, 333
swarm weapons, 335
Sweden, life expectancy in, 408
Sylla, M. L., 600
n
symbolic computing, 460–461, 463–464, 468
synapses, 155, 166, 169–174, 269, 383, 430
backpropagation and, 156
blood flow and, 161
brain scanning and, 161, 162, 166, 171–175, 197
in cerebellum, 180,
180
, 181, 182
in cerebral cortex, 190
CPEB protein in, 176, 199–200, 544
n
criticism from the complexity of neural processing and, 428, 445–446
defined, 124
formation of, 170, 171, 173–174,
174
, 176, 202, 446
Hebb’s neural learning theory and, 156, 157, 170–171
in hippocampus, 175
hormones and, 443
learning and, 179
memory and, 169, 170–171, 175–176, 200, 541
n
, 543
n
, 544
n
models of, 144, 169–171
neurotransmitters in, 145, 147, 153, 170
nonlinearities in, 137, 148
plasticity of, 151, 156, 169, 171, 173, 541
n
resetting of, 124, 150
synaptic scaling, 171
system-on-a-chip concept, 533
n
tactical autonomous combatants (TACs), 333
tags and labels, nanoparticles as, 242
Talbot, David, 569
n
Tale of Two Cities, A
(Dickens), 396
Taleyarkhan, R. P., 567
n
Tallal, Paula, 175, 543
n
Tammany Hall, 472
Tanaka, K., 547
n
tanks, Abrams, 332, 335
tape recordings, 53, 327
tapes, digital, 327–328, 588
n
Tasmanian tiger, DNA of, 222
tattoos, 310
Taub, Edward, 174
Taylor, J. G., 143, 537
n
T cells, 217–218 417, 557
n
“Technological Singularity, The” (Vinge), 22
technology, 372, 375, 498
n
author’s interest in trends in, 3, 370
brevity and, 5
centralized, 340, 409, 420, 421
Clarke’s third law and, 4
communications,
see
communications, communications technologies; telecommunications; telephones
decentralized,
see
decentralization
decline in cost of, 64–65, 95, 338, 469, 472
failure rates of, 429, 456
in GNR age,
see
biotechnology; GNR (Genetics, Nanotechnology, Robotics) age; nanotechnology; robots, robotics; strong AI
human intelligence merged with,
15
, 20–21
information,
see
information technologies
life cycle of, 51–56
magic compared with, 4–5
opposable thumb and, 16, 39, 41
relinquishment of,
see
GNR, relinquishment of
shrinking of,
see
miniaturization; nanotechnology
three stages of impact of, 408
transcendence of, 389
as unified system, 411
see also specific topics
technology evolution:
biological evolution compared with, 16–19,
17–19
, 94, 347, 441, 487
complexity increases and, 38
as continuation of biological evolution, 7, 42, 137
in Epoch Four,
15
, 16–20,
17–20
, 47
in Epoch Five,
15
, 20–21, 40, 47
in Epoch Six,
15
, 21
farsighted, 47–50,
48–50
key events of,
see
key events, of biological and technological evolution
order increased by, 40
theory of,
see
accelerating returns, law of
TED (technology, entertainment, design) conference (2001), 314–315, 587
n
Tegmark, Max, 500
n
telecommunications:
adoption of, 97, 264
bubble in (1997–2000), 13, 97, 264
technology hype cycle for, 263–264
teleconferencing, 123
telephones,
17, 18
, 317–318, 438
as auditory virtual reality, 318
mass use of, 48,
48, 50
, 512
n
speech recognition over, 287
surveillance and, 413
telephones, cellular,
see
cell phones
telepresence, 123
Telescom conference (1998), 394
telescopes, 47
Hubble Space Telescope, 590
n
robotic, 281
television, 330, 338
mass use of,
50
, 512
n
Telford, Ric, 528
n
telomerase, 218
telomeres, 218, 219, 221, 223–224, 323
Temple, Blake, 504
n
10% Solution for a Healthy Life, The
(Kurzweil), 211
termites, 151, 466
terrorism, 247, 280
civil liberties and, 421–422
GNR age and, 395, 397, 400, 401–402, 414, 421, 423–424
nuclear, 401–402
preemptive action and, 423–424
suicide, 402, 421
Tesla, Nikola, 1
Texas, University of, 124, 248
cerebellum model and simulation of, 182–183,
182
, 544
n
Texas A&M University, Brain Networks Laboratory at, 162
Theis, Thomas, 114
theism, criticism from, 431, 473–478
Theory of Games and Economic Behavior
(von Neumann and Morgenstern), 499
n
therapeutic cloning, 214, 220, 221, 222, 224, 256, 323
“There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom” (Feynman), 227, 228
thermodynamics:
laws of, 130, 168, 432
second law of, 39–40, 509
n
–510
n
, 520
n
thermonuclear explosion, 134
Thier, P., 539
n
thinking, thought, 86, 144, 167, 316, 386–387 390, 445
about body, 193, 203
Church-Turing thesis and, 454
cortex and, 190, 191
expansion of, 316–317, 325
incredulity and, 432–433
at its best, 379
pattern recognition and, 149, 309
physical action vs., 175
robots controlled by, 194–195
slowness of, 8–9, 309
understanding, 154–157, 198
see also
consciousness; intelligence; mind
Thomas, Dylan, 326
Thompson, Donald L., 561
n
, 562
n
Thompson, J. N., Jr., 555
n
Thompson, Larry, 598
n
Thompson, R. F., 545
n
Thorne, Kip S., 355–356 363, 592
n
Thorpe, S. J., 574
n
threatening stimuli, 541
n
three-dimensional molecular computing, 27, 45, 67, 111–122, 128, 133, 292, 434, 526
n
–533
n
bridge to, 112–122, 526
n
–533
n
computing with light and, 113, 119–120
DNA computing and, 113, 117–118, 119, 529
n
–530
n
emulating biology and, 112–113, 116–117, 519
n
fractal dimensions and the brain and, 68
nanotubes and nanotube circuitry and, 112–115, 526
n
–528
n
quantum computing and, 113, 119, 120–121
self-assembly in nanotube circuits and, 112–113, 115–116, 528
n
spintronics and, 112–113, 116–117, 529
n
three-dimensional shapes:
carbon and, 15, 85
of proteins, 209, 234, 482–483, 550
n
Through the Looking Glass
(Carroll), 326
thumbs:
of humans vs. chimpanzees, 39, 509
n
opposable, 4, 16, 39, 41, 47, 152, 433, 487, 509
n
time, 23
digital basis for, 86
general relativity and, 500
n
problem solving and, 296
quantum gravity and, 14