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Is Ray Kurzweil An Immortalist?


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#1 John Doe

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Posted 12 July 2004 - 12:24 PM


http://www.kurzweila......html?id=3511

From the link:

"The book makes the scientific case that immortality is within our grasp," says Kurzweil. "Our health program enables people to slow aging and disease processes to such a degree that we can remain in good health and spirits until the more radical life-extending and life-enhancing technologies, now in the research and testing pipeline, become available.

#2 rahein

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Posted 12 July 2004 - 12:32 PM

Thank you for this like I will try to listen tonight.

#3 rahein

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Posted 12 July 2004 - 12:34 PM

Also for anyone that will miss it, or can not get NPR where they are OnPoint has web archives at http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/ .

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#4 Bruce Klein

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Posted 12 July 2004 - 01:42 PM

Upon reading many of Kurzweil's past articles, I would deduce that he does subscribe to the possibility of living forever.

#5 John Doe

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Posted 12 July 2004 - 02:44 PM

I am sure that he does subscribe to that possibility! I was using the term "immortalist" in a stronger sense to distinguish immortalism from life extensionism. The former asserts the desirability of living not just much longer than average, but for eternity.

Edited by John Doe, 12 July 2004 - 06:13 PM.


#6 Bruce Klein

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Posted 12 July 2004 - 04:55 PM

Taking the definition a bit further, immortalism (physical immortality) may be defined as the goal of anyone who wants to avoid oblivion after death where there is the idea that there is no afterlife. Make 'heaven' on earth.

#7 John Doe

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Posted 12 July 2004 - 06:14 PM

The intent of my original post was to draw attention to the new language that Kurzweil is using: "forever", "immortality". I suspect (or am I mistaken?) that he is coming to share Bruce's position on not dying -- ever.

#8 Mind

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Posted 12 July 2004 - 10:06 PM

I think you are right John Doe. When I first started reading Kurzweil, he certainly seemed to avoid the words forever and immortal...even though his writings definitely implied the possibility. Now he is a bit more outspoken. I think it is about time he and Ramona joined Imminst.

#9 reason

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Posted 12 July 2004 - 11:58 PM

Ray Kurzweil is a strong supporter of healthy life extension in the transhumanist way of thinking about it. He is also a supporter of - and donor to - the Methuselah Mouse Prize, about which he had this to say:

"A radical upgrading of our body's physical and mental systems is already under way. We already know how to largely prevent most degenerative disease through nutrition and supplementation, aggressively applied. This knowledge is a bridge to the emerging biotechnology revolution, which in turn will be a bridge to the nanotechnology revolution. Ultimately, these developments will reverse aging and disease and enable humans to live indefinitely.

"By encouraging research and raising public awareness around longevity and life-extension, the Methuselah Mouse Prize will play a unique role in accelerating the pace of the biotechnology revolution and building a bridge that will ultimately lead us to radically redefine our concept of human mortality."

Reason
Founder, Longevity Meme
reason@longevitymeme.org
http://www.longevitymeme.org

#10 advancedatheist

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Posted 13 July 2004 - 02:00 AM

Here is the streaming audio of Kurzweil's appearance (require Real Player):

http://realserver.bu.../07/op_0712b.rm

#11 lightowl

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Posted 13 July 2004 - 02:22 AM

Here is the link for multiple sources.

http://www.onpointra...0712_b_main.asp

#12 John Doe

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Posted 13 July 2004 - 02:28 AM

He's lost it. Kurzweil, the godfather of contemporary transhumanism, truly believes that he is significantly slowing down the aging and disease process in his body. At the end of the interview he says that "according to aging test" (whatever those are) "I have not significantly aged in 16 years". [:o]

#13 lightowl

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Posted 13 July 2004 - 03:26 AM

Yes, that also jerked me out of the chair. Does he know something we don't, or is he just exaggerating to make a point. I think the test he is referring to is either flawed or specific to some limited effects of aging. I have been admiring Ray for his visionary skills for a long time, but this I did not expect from him.

#14 advancedatheist

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Posted 13 July 2004 - 03:49 AM

He's lost it.  Kurzweil, the godfather of contemporary transhumanism, truly believes that he is significantly slowing down the aging and disease process in his body.  At the end of the interview he says that "according to aging test" (whatever those are) "I have not significantly aged in 16 years".  [:o]


I have to question Kurzweil's judgment in associating with "Doctor" Terry Grossman, who practices quackery like homeopathy, naturopathy and chelation:

About Dr. Terry Grossman
http://www.fmiclinic...ry_grossman.php

#15 Jay the Avenger

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Posted 13 July 2004 - 12:07 PM

I don't think Ray has lost it.

It sounds perfectly normal to me that a human body may 'not age' from time to time. If you would zoom in on the graph that shows someones steady decline all throughout his life, you would see lots of rapid declines AND flat lines.

The body simply doesn't degrade from second to second, or even from day to day.

Every once in a while, some genes kick in, bringing you to the next stage in the agingprocess. These events are timed to happen every few years, rather than every few days, I would say.

A good example of this is hairloss. When you hit a certain age, some genes kick in, and the process has then started.

Ray has put lots of years of study and research into his own body. The man cured his own diabetes type II, for crying out loud. We all know that Ray is nothing short of a genius and a visionaire. Is it really so hard to believe that he knows what types of nutricious foods and supplements to take, in order to influence his own genetics in such a way that it slows down the aging process?

It's a very credible story to me. Maybe that's because I myself live a very healthy life, and at 26 years of age, I have seen ex-classmates that are far older than me... biologically that is... not calendarwise. I too, feel I am not aging at all. Also, pictures that were taken of me a few years ago, do not really differ at all from more recent pictures.

Just my two cents.

#16 Kallazze

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Posted 26 July 2004 - 02:01 AM

I believe he is.

#17 Bruce Klein

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Posted 07 October 2004 - 11:53 PM

From James Swayze - wta-talk:

---


http://story.news.ya...a11564_2004oct6


Kurzweil's Quest For Eternal Youth Sets Group Abuzz

By Leslie Walker
Thursday, October 7, 2004; Page E01

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.

Inventor Ray Kurzweil takes 250 nutritional supplements a day in his quest to live long enough to reap the benefits he expects from biotechnology. He says he's trying to reprogram his body, as he would his computer........

........At MIT last week, Kurzweil described a future in which he's convinced immortality -- or a drastically longer life span -- will be possible thanks to emerging technologies. His new book, which will hit stores in a few weeks, outlines a special "longevity program" of diet, exercise and nutritional supplements aimed at slowing the aging process.........

.........At the MIT conference, not everyone seemed enamored with this idea. During lunch the next day, Daniel McCurdy, chief executive of consulting company ThinkFire Services USA Ltd., said immortality didn't strike him as all that appealing:

"I'm already periodically bored, and I'm only 48. Why would you want to live forever?"..........

........Kurzweil later conceded that radically extending human life could lead to a "deep ennui" if nothing else changed, but he believes we will grow smarter and vastly improve our quality of life. Nanobots, if we let them swim around our brain capillaries, will boost our brainpower, he said, as they chatter with our biological neurons over a wireless local network and the Internet, creating a hybrid form of super-intelligence..........

........."This scenario will enable us to expand our mental faculties through these massively distributed neural implants with no surgery required," he added.

Kurzweil said he doesn't think such changes will detract from our humanity. "The emergence of artificial intelligence is not an alien invasion of intelligent machines coming from over the horizon to compete with us," he declared. "Rather, it is emerging from our human civilization."........

.........For baby boomers, though, it's a safe bet many will resist the idea of tinkering with Mother Nature. That's the thinking of McCurdy, who believes part of what makes life a great adventure is knowing it will end.

"I would rather continue the adventure by dying and going into a different plane," he said, "instead of having nanobots running around my brain."[cont.]

****
I don't know what education level this McCurdy has achieved but I'm not impressed with either his intellect or knowledge. Again we have the tired old excuses for deathism. I'll get bored... what an utterly abysmal lack of imagination! Also again with the "other plane of existence". 'What other plane, can you prove this exists sir? Even if it does would it not be infinite compared to this physical existence of the universe so therefore wouldn't it obviously still await you once you'd have really exhausted your imagination and truly got bored with life or we all finally meet our demise along with the demise of the universe? Again what a truly utterly abysmal lack of imagination and add to that lack of critical thinking skills, lack of basic logic skills and a total absence of useful knowledge. I'll also add that he apparently lacks any instinct for survival.

Baby boomers won't want to tinker with Mother Nature? He needs to watch "Dr. 90201" or Discovery Channel's "Body Works" or ABC's "Extreme Makeover". These are reality shows but even fictional plastic surgery makes for good viewing with FX's "Nip/Tuck". Baby Boomers and their children are spending over a billion dollars a year tinkering with Mother Nature to not only to correct perceived cosmetic slights but also disguise the effects of aging. Anti aging organizations should place pamphlets in plastic surgeon's offices and adds/articles in media concerned with plastic surgery. Growing in wide consumption even in non Transhuman circles are a wide variety of so called anti aging compounds some by outright charlatan hucksters pitched on late night infomercials and not of the level of dedication of organizations more closely involved in the Transhuman/Life Extension ilk. Baby Boomers are hitting the wall of aging and not liking it one damn bit. They should be and I predict will be coming to the ideas of agelessness, life extension and even body modification in droves as more media attention is placed on these technological possibilities.

Kurzweil is indeed brave to step out so starkly exposed in mainstream limelight with so radical of ideas, as seen by the uninitiated, especially that they are so adamantly opposed by the biodeathicists on the current [but not for long!] President's Council for Bioethics. Not that he's been particularly stealthy about his convictions. But hopefully soon he'll feel comfortable enough to mention that he's a believer in the efficacy of and signed up for cryonic suspension as well.

James

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Membership in order of joining - all comments on any subject are solely my opinion only and not reflective of the official positions of the following:
Cryonics Institute of Michigan http://www.cryonics.org
The Immortalist Society http://www.cryonics.org/info.html
The Society for Venturism http://www.venturist.org
Immortality Institute http://www.imminst.org
Methuselah Foundation http://www.methuselahfoundation.org
Methuselah Mouse Prize http://www.methuselahmouse.org
[Give $$$ for life!]
World Transhumanist Assoc. http://www.transhumanism.org/
WTA Portland Chapter http://home.comcast....zej/pdxwta.html
MY WEBSITE: http://home.comcast....spage_main.html






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#18 Bruce Klein

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Posted 08 October 2004 - 04:07 PM

Thanks for the tip. I wasn't aware of the resource but will add it to my
list for future reference.

Regards,

Leslie Walker
The Washington Post


------ Original Message ------

Thanks, Leslie, for your recent article on Ray Kurzweil and physical
immortality. You may wish to keep in mind the Immortality Institute
(ImmInst) if you plan future research into this topic.

Take care,

Bruce J. Klein
Chair ImmInst.org
http://www.imminst.org/bjklein

#19 Bruce Klein

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Posted 08 October 2004 - 04:11 PM

Sure, Leslie, ImmInst will publish our first book, The Scientific Conquest of Death, at the end of this month (Oct) which will include essays from Ray Kurzweil and Marvin Minsky.

Book website: http://www.imminst.org/book1

Let me know if you'd like to receive a copy for review.

Bruce Klein
Chair, ImmInst.org
http://www.imminst.org/bjklein

#20 Matt

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Posted 21 January 2005 - 09:38 PM

ive been following ray kurzweils articles and work for YEARS now, I just cant stop reading all the stuff at www.kurzweilai.net . he has some amazing articles.


that guy that said this ...

"I'm already periodically bored, and I'm only 48. Why would you want to live forever?"..........

I hate this, have they NO vision for the future !?




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