Episode 8.06 The Age of Spiritual Machines—Explained
Reading Ray Kurzweil’s prognostications about the future—and coming to terms with his ruthless optimism.
The Age of Spiritual Machines, Ray Kurzweil
Show Notes
Things mentioned on the show
- The Age of Intelligent Machines
- Moore’s Law
- Universal constants, and especially the speed of light
- You Are Not a Gadget, by Jaron Lanier
- The Shallows, by Nicholas Carr
- René Descartes
- Ludwig Wittgenstein
- Paul Feyerabend
- Thomas Kuhn and particularly The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
- Daniel Dennett
- Pentium III and Core i7s
- Turing test and Alan Turing
- Google’s Calico project
Upcoming books
- May: Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton (and the movie!)
- June: Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness, Simone Brown
Music
- “King of Thumbs” by Alex Dowling
- “Winning Slowly Theme” by Chris Krycho.
Sponsors
Many thanks to the people who help us make this show possible by their financial support! This month’s sponsors:
- Daniel Ellcey
- Douglas Campos
- Jake Grant
- Marnix Klooster
- Spencer Smith
If you’d like to support the show, you can make a pledge at Patreon or give directly via Square Cash.
Respond
We love to hear your thoughts. Hit us up via Twitter, Facebook, or email!