Kurzweil
Kurzweil talks about a paradox of how humans want to solve problems yet do not want all the issues solved. “We are more attached to the problem than the solution,” he claims. Throughout our lives, humans are constantly solving problems one after the other. For instance, we study to get good jobs, we work to afford necessities such as food, we eat food to suppress our hunger. Indeed, one might say that we wake up every morning to solve such simple problems and more complicated ones. Without any problems, there would be little meaning to our lives. Over time, species face various problems and adapt to overcome these problems, with these adaptations passed on to future generations. This is called evolution, and can be applied to the development of technology as well. Kurzweil mentions that ‘a “written” record of achievement’ is required for any evolutionary process. It is arguable that without such a record, a concept of evolution would probably not exist. Evolution requires the subject undergoing it to adapt to new conditions without losing beneficial changes from previous generations. In the absence of a type of the aforementioned ‘record’, the subject would be stuck in a loop of solving issues once already solved but forgotten. With regards to technology, although many species have been known to create and use tools, humans are the only known organisms that have historically kept a record of their knowledge of technology that they have created, allowing for evolution of these tools to be achieved. This is one of the reasons why humans are considered to be the most intelligent of beings. A majority of the technology that man has invented is of far greater complexity than anything made by other organisms. This reflects how the human mind can think to a distinguishable level, allowing us to solve complex problems by building sophisticated technology that can evolve over time.
Transcendence
In the prologue of his book, ‘The Age of Spiritual Machines’, Kurzweil discusses the problem of death. He mentions that humans spend a lot of effort on avoiding or delaying it, yet it is important to our existence as it ‘gives meaning to our lives’ and ‘gives importance and value to time’. For centuries, many humans have looked for ways to attain immortality or, at least, to extend our lifespans significantly. In Transcendence, we see a method of escaping death that, considering the current state of technologies available, can be deduced to be fictional. Will Caster, a scientist working to develop a sentient machine that has ‘transcended’ the capabilities of a human, is shot and is poisoned with radioactive polonium that puts him into the final weeks of his life. Following the suggestion from his wife, Evelyn, Will has his conscience uploaded onto the artificially intelligent computer that he had been developing, PINN. After his death, the machine functions as a digital copy of himself, almost as though he was still there. At first, the digital Will seems to be in a disembodied state, with just his mind operating behind a render of his face. Later, with the help of instantly regenerating cells that he had created, he develops a body for himself identical to the original. Yet, this version of Will was connected to the internet and had control over an army of ‘hybrid’ humans. This relates to Descartes’ mind-body problem, as it is difficult to determine whether Will had actually avoided death and now lives through the machine, or if the machine was an entirely different identity that merely functioned with the aid of Will’s vast knowledge. The fact that whatever he did was with the intention of keeping Evelyn satisfied, sometimes even without her approval (as seen in the clip below, where he tries to 'empathize' by measuring her body conditions without her permission), seems to suggest that this was only Will’s mind and knowledge operating collaboratively with what existed in PINN, whereas the original Will was a mind and body that was human. His AI copy had ‘transcended’ to a state unattainable by human beings.
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