Ray Kurzweil on Personal Identity

Raymond Kurzweil is an American inventor and futurist. He is involved in fields as diverse as optical character recognition (OCR), text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and electronic keyboard instruments. He is the author of several books on health, artificial intelligence (AI), transhumanism, the technological singularity, and futurism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Kurzweil

In this clip, Ray discusses why we should consider ourselves to be "patterns of information," and how using this conception we can imagine a future when non-biological systems can be both conscious and match (or exceed) present levels of human intelligence.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Ray Kurzweil
• Personal Identity
• Consciousness
• Heraclitus
• Ship of Theseus
• Artificial Intelligence
• Singularity
• Philosophy of Mind
• Transhumanism

[GeekMatrix]

I thought Ray Kurzweil was talking to himself..these two guys look like twins.

[itanimullitenretni]

@j1514120119

or simply an evolutionary survival mechanism. Identity is a means of creating importance about oneself, thus, continuing and striving towards further survival.

[halfzombiehalfrobot]

We (the human race) had better do something NOW about income inequality and corruption. If 1/2 of what Kurzweil says is true and we are exponentialy racing towards a fully technically augmented reality, whoever has the power to control your devices, or access to devices will have ultimate control of the individual. Who can be trusted with such power? The govt.? Corporations? Under the current status quo neither. This is serious and must be dealt with before it's to late. You cant stop progress.

[DK0526]

@zruth2 Thats a very intuitive way of looking at personality. Its a pleasure to hear from deep thinkers like yourself who understand this.

[stokepogue]

@whenstorm Anything is possible if the public will says so, no matter how long we have to wait for it or how many steps it takes to get there. When the people discover it (and there are plenty of people), they'll want it . And when they want it, they'll stop at nothing until it happens. That's how the general public behaves and why information tech is advancing so rapidly.

[geodesicks]

@itanimullitenretni :EXACTLY.

[eaglez1177]

@whenstorm Wow. You are truly a fool

[1979descartes]

@RadicalModeV I would argue that being sophisticated and stupid are not mutually exclusive or inclusive. A thing can be complicated and stupid, or smart, right? I'm complicated but can be tremendously stupid, and brillant. If the premise that: if it's soshisticated it's not stupid is invalid, your deductive argument is fallacious.

[RadicalModeV]

@whenstorm "The incalculable, the unimaginable, the impossible, the incomprehensible,; cannot be put in the stupid computer" TRUE!

"no matter how sophisticated it's artificial intelligence is" WHAT?

In the first part you say "stupid computer" then you follow it with "no matter how sophisticated"!!!??? If it's sophisticated, then it's not stupid. If it's not stupid, then all of those things that you mentioned as beyond the reach of a stupid machine would be within its reach.

[meckerarma]

@whenstorm

That's quite ignorant and wrong of you.

[FreeYourMind818]

@whenstorm unless you map every individuals brain structure and you reconstruct the model according to their sensual perception

[whenstorm]

Being uploaded into a machine means no dancing, beach parties, pizza, beer, wine, and ice cream. No simulation can make up for the real things. No preprogrammed response can make up for the new and the unexpected. The incalculable, the unimaginable, the impossible, the incomprehensible,; cannot be put in the stupid computer, no matter how sophisticated it's artificial intelligence is. My unique name is what makes me real. No one can be me. No one can share the totality of my experience.