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Here's a link to part one of a talk Ray Kurzweil recently gave on the effects that information technology is having on progress in biological / health sciences. He's a smart cookie, so I hope his thesis is right. Parts 2-4 are also on Youtube, if anybody is interested.
I believe that the kinds of time-lines he talks about in this talk are going to be extremely important in determining how fast MS research can get us to a cure.
Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 1:34 pm
by cheerleader
Jeff and I love this, dignan, thanks!
"Kurzweil's Law of Accelerating Returns": exponential progressions in information, technology, medicine---doubling in power every 10 years. Very exciting concept. White blood cells as nano-robotic systems. Wow.
Jeff used his synthesizer in the 80s and 90s. It was the first one that had the touch and sound of a grand piano...Ray Kurzweill is truly a brilliant mind and pioneer of the future. http://www.kurzweiltech.com/aboutray.html
cheer
Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 6:02 pm
by Brainteaser
Exraordinary - but good! The current generation has a lot to look forward to.
The future of the Aussie coal supplies looks bleak. However, by a rapid rise in solar, we should get climate control without too much pain.
To imagine that in 5 years time, the advancement of an MS cure will equate to a 32 year linear growth - Wow!!
Phil
Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 8:13 am
by dignan
Phil, I really liked his analysis of solar too, it makes me feel more optimistic about the future health of the planet. Cheer, I haven't been following him since his sythesizer days, but starting with his book, "The Age of Spiritual Machines" in the late 90s, I've been paying attention. I know a lot of people think he's wildly optimistic about the rate of progress, so I was glad to hear him say that Henry Markram, the head of the Blue Brain project, is actually more optmistic than he is about reverse-engineering the human brain.
Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 8:16 am
by concerned
cheerleader wrote:Jeff and I love this, dignan, thanks!
"Kurzweil's Law of Accelerating Returns": exponential progressions in information, technology, medicine---doubling in power every 10 years. Very exciting concept. White blood cells as nano-robotic systems. Wow.
Robert Anton Wilson talked about something like this he called the "Jumping Jesus Phenomenon". However, I'm worried that our ability to comprehend and control technologies is lagging way behind our ability to create them.
I would be more impressed if this was someone involved in analog synthesis like Dieter Doepfer.
