All the big thinkers are hanging out at the Foresight Institute's retreat this weekend, and Dan Gillmor's taking notes:
Ray Kurzweil is doing his usual amazing job of explaining the mind-boggling nature of exponential change — the acceleration of progress. He's the ultimate optimist.
His future is one where biology and machines become seamless, where machines and intelligence help humanity become (in my mind) somewhat disturbingly "God-like," for lack of a better expression. I also crave that future, because it is where we need to go.
You have to take a lot of this on faith. Kurzweil says these changes, which will lead to advances that we truly cannot grasp at this stage, are inexorable and vastly more powerful than human civilization's greatest dreams today.
"We will become these machines and merge with them," he says.
Another line: "The universe will ultimately wake up and command its own destiny." Hmmm.
Dan's been really good about going to all these hyper-leet events and taking realtime notes as they unfold. It's journalism 3.0!
