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/sci/ - Science & Math

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6111445 No.6111445 [Reply] [Original]

Future discussion thread. What do you guys think the future will bring? I am a big fan of Ray Kurzweil myself and do believe we will reach the so called singularity within some decades. Do you believe we will be able to live forever? I am optimistic on this too, and actually don't believe we are that far from it, I certainly believe I am going to "live forever" myself, or at least I estimate it to be very plausible. I find it kinda funny though, how most people are completely unaware of the progress in longevity, and everytime I bring the subject up I am met with strong scepticism, most people view living forever as certain science fiction, what do you think?

>> No.6111453

If you have not seen Transcendent Man, I highly recommend it. It is about Ray Kurzweils vision of the future, a time where man will merge with machine and we will achieve super intelligens and super longevity, you can watch it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si-wEKBX3jo

>> No.6111458

it will be cooler but it will fail to live up to expectations as per every prediction of what the future will be like

>> No.6111462

>>6111458
Why do you think the future will be a letdown?

>> No.6111465

I believe immortality (starting with downloading consciousnesses to computers) will be attainable by 2060s-70s, but it will only be affordable to a very few

>> No.6111470

>>6111465
>(starting with downloading consciousnesses to computers)

I believe we will have beat aging a long time before that, we are already able to extend the life of mice and other animals just by tweaking some of their proteins, by several hundred %. There are already animals today able to life forever, so we dont even have to upload our consciousness to achieve this greatness, even though a backup is a nice security when we get to that point.
"but it will only be affordable to a very few" People thought the same way about mobile phones and computers, but obviously it will only be a matter of time before all the technologies will be available for everyone.

>> No.6111475

>>6111470
True. Perhaps it's just my own fear that a game changer like immortality will be monopolized and overcharged.

As far as Kurzweil, I heard he's not in great health and he takes close to 200 pills a day. I have a bad feeling he will pass away a year before some major breakthrough...lol

>> No.6111477

>>6111462
historically every prediction of the future falls flat on its face

im hopeful but skeptical

>> No.6111478

I do feel incredibly lucky to have a chance to witness singularity in my lifetime

>> No.6111480

>>6111465
>assuming money and economics will remain unchanged 60 years into the future

>> No.6111482

>>6111475
>I have a bad feeling he will pass away a year before some major breakthrough
Would be pretty ironic. As far as I know he isnt in bad health though, the 200 pills he take a day, or maybe its actually 300, it sounds insane, but true. He doesnt take these because of illness though, he takes them to "hack" his biochemistry so to say, can't explain the science behind it properly, but its something to do with replacing some of his old defect genes with new fresh ones. He owns his own supplement company that sells stuff like this.

>> No.6111484

>>6111445
Do you believe we will be able to live forever?

I'm pretty optimistic that there are people alive today who will see a form of functional 'immortality', I'd say people under 50 have a decent chance to live beyond 100 at the least

>> No.6111486

>>6111477
Not really though. Ray has been called the best person to predict the future by Bill Gates, and has been recognized by 3 or 4 american presidents. He is very good at predicting the future and has invented stuff too.

>>6111478
Me too, I am extremely thankful for my life, pretty lucky to be born into this great world we are living in today.

>> No.6111487

>>6111486
To follow up on Rays predictions, forgot a few good ones. He predicted the internet, the exact year a machine would beat a human in chess and the fall of Soviet Russia, this man truly is a genius.

>> No.6111488

>>6111477
Please read Paris in the Twentieth Century by Jules Verne

>> No.6111493

>>6111482
On his Wiki page it claims he was diagnosed with early type II diabetes at age 35 :/ I am rooting for him though. I can't remember the name of his book I read, but he mapped out possible scenarios of what could happen with advancement of nanotechnology. His doomsday scenario was that nanobots would escape their lab and eventually eat the surface of the Earth lol it's kinda plausible enough to be scary.

>> No.6111498

>>6111493
Nanobots designed for warfare

>> No.6111502

>>6111488
Not going to do that, I dont like books very much, was he right or wrong? What is your point?

>>6111493
Ah yeah I remember that now, I too am rooting for him, he is a great man, Im sure he manages to survive. The advances in technology does have a pretty dark side to it, the future will be exciting, thats for sure.

>> No.6111504

>>6111502
He accurately predicted several future technological developments

>> No.6111505

>>6111504
Cool, must have been a smart man then as I figure it must have been a lot harder looking far into the future back then in the 1800s compared to now. A lot of changes are actually pretty obvious today, you just gotta understand the trends and their implications.

>> No.6111509

>>6111505
>A lot of changes are actually pretty obvious today
I don't understand why you said future predictions always fall flat on their faces and therefor make you skeptical but then say this

>> No.6111511

>>6111509
I wasnt the one posting this >>6111477
if that was what you were thinking, will take on a name from now on just to eliminate any misunderstandings.

>> No.6111514

>>6111511
Oh my mistake, sorry bout that, I do agree that once you model technological trends projecting them forward is pretty easy. The politics of it are a bit of an unsettling wildcard however.

>> No.6112076

>>6111445
Sad to say this but think very hard about what he's saying and you'll noticed that there is little substance outside of a theory of exponentional growth backed only by a few CURRENT trends and the assumption that those trends will continue, which is highly subject to future developments that cannot be predicted.

He's also predicting things that I would say are downright impossible by nature.

I'm kind of disappointed, but I strongly doubt the bulk of his predictions will come true.

>> No.6114087

>>6111445
We were born in the 20th century, lived in the 21st and will die in the 22nd.

>> No.6114137

>>6111465
>downloading consciousness's to computers
How do you imagine that would let you live forever?

>> No.6114144

>>6111445
Be careful, /sci/ mod bans people for discussing transhumanism on here. what a tool.

>> No.6114175

>>6111480
>Assuming they will
Really, unless there is another Age of Enlightenment we're stuck with Capitalism just like how we were stuck with Mercantilism almost 200 years ago.

>> No.6114186

>>6114137
Think transfering your brain as easily as tranfering a pdf or document. Although people saying that will be in the near future are grossly optimistic. The truth is, because it is a matter of science rather than engineering, it could be set in motion tomorrow or in 200 years.

>> No.6114411

I think we'll all be wearing tin-foil jumpsuits and driving flying cars.

A man can dream.

>> No.6114425

>>6114137
>>6114186
I think it will create a copy of your "self" with your personality and memories in a computer. The original self will continue with his normal life until die. I don't think physical body immortality will be allowed to the masses, it brings too many problems. Of course fucking rich people do whathever they want anyway.