PBS Discusses Kurzweil, The Singularity, and Bio-ethics

Kurzweil talks human enhancement with Religion and Ethics News Weekly.

The Religion and Ethics News Weekly program on PBS recently interviewed Ray Kurzweil about his predictions for how humanity will change in the years ahead. The segment, entitled "Ethics of Human Enchancement" uses Kurzweil as its centerpiece. It even includes footage from Transcendent Man and The Singularity Is Near - full length documentaries about Kurzweil and his work. More important than the futurist's involvement, however, is the questions that the program raises: will we augment our biology? If we do, what problems will it cause or solve? I'm not particularly satisfied with the answers presented in the video, but I am glad that national media programs are taking such discussions seriously. You can watch PBS' presentation in its entirety in the video below.

For those familiar with concepts like exponential growth in intelligence, the Technological Singularity, and human enhancement, nothing in PBS's program is particularly new. Viewers may recognize projects like Braingate, and brain implants that treat Parkinson's from previous articles appearing on the Hub. Anyone who's watched Transcendent Man, or read/watched The Singularity is Near knows considerably more about Kurzweil than is covered in these ten minutes. Why then, should we care about this news segment? Mostly because it's on PBS.

"Ray Kurzweil may not be a household name..." The opening line really sums it up, and you can plug many different things in place of Ray Kurzweil's name. The Singularity. Accelerating technology. Exponential growth. These topics simply aren't part of the mainstream media discussion. It's pretty revealing that we're still relying on a science fiction film from 1999, The Matrix, to introduce audiences to the concept that we could eventually produce non-human intelligence. Referencing a decade old movie for explaining cutting edge science? Pretty lame if you think about it (of course I did it myself just a few weeks ago). Still, that's where the national discussion is at the moment.

Thank goodness then that bio-ethics and human enhancement are getting more of a platform. This probably isn't the most exposure the concepts have ever received, but it's certainly a step in the right direction. The choices we make today about implants (or genetic treatments) that augment humanity will have far reaching implications for years to come.