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Nanotech could make humans immortal by 2040

Ray Kurzweil says nanobots will soon wipe out cancer, back up memories and slow aging

In 30 or 40 years, we'll have microscopic machines traveling through our bodies, repairing damaged cells and organs, effectively wiping out diseases. The nanotechnology will also be used to back up our memories and personalities.

In an interview with Computerworld, author and futurist Ray Kurzweil said that anyone alive come 2040 or 2050 could be close to immortal. The quickening advance of nanotechnology means that the human condition will shift into more of a collaboration of man and machine, as nanobots flow through human blood streams and eventually even replace biological blood, he added.

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Tags: Kurzweil, cancer, immortal, nano

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Permalink Reply by Lepht Anonym on October 8, 2009 at 9:04am

oh, bloody hell. of course Kurzweil says nanotech will make us immortal - he's a goddamn dreamer, it's what he does. he gets paid to sit on his butt and say stuff like this will happen, without a clue how.

i wish someone would ask that eejit how, exactly, he proposes to develop these nanomachines, what subatomic structures he's researching that could perform their function, how he plans to get those to perform computations and where his research grants are coming from.

Permalink Reply by Aiden on October 8, 2009 at 10:08am

Really, you'd think that his investors would like to see some results... Why do they keep giving him money?

Permalink Reply by Lepht Anonym on October 18, 2009 at 12:09pm

i honestly don't know. i think it's the fame effect. all i know is if a new researcher tried to get money for the same thing they'd get booted off the faculty on their arse.

Permalink Reply by Iain McMahon on February 8, 2010 at 3:47pm

So if people give other people money then that makes the claims credible?

That would make the claims true that were made by that company (can't recall their name) who were making a free-energy/perpetual-motion device.

Just because some credulous people are fooled by the slick talking, science speak of the scammer/entrepreneur it doesn't mean the claims are credible.

(I'm not saying that Kurweil is a scammer, I'd have to assess the merits of his claims first, but just that this funding idea is a fallacy)

Permalink Reply by Aiden on February 8, 2010 at 4:01pm

So if people give other people money then that makes the claims credible?

Did I say that? Or even imply it?

No, I was implying that people should instead be giving their money to more credible lines of research, rather than a bottomless pit of pipe-dreams.

Permalink Reply by Iain McMahon on February 8, 2010 at 4:11pm

Apologies, I misread your meaning.

Permalink Reply by Orson_Zedd on November 27, 2009 at 12:51pm

I'd totally do something like this, provided I get human rights.

Permalink Reply by Roy The Infidel on December 21, 2009 at 2:24am

While I admire Ray for his vision, this much is closer to home. Author of "Redesigning Humans" geneticist Dr. Gregory Stock is featured on this TED video.

Permalink Reply by Roy The Infidel on December 24, 2009 at 5:05am

Here's a short vid of Numenta co-founder Jeff Hawkins on TED talking about brain theory.

Permalink Reply by Roy The Infidel on December 26, 2009 at 8:04am

hehe that's a different dude. :) Below is the url for the Jeff Hawkins who was affiliated with the Church of Scientology.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNf1qwoUb5E

While Jeff Hawkins of Numenta also co-founded the Palm and Handspring companies.

http://www.numenta.com/about-numenta/people.php

Permalink Reply by Aiden on February 10, 2010 at 8:48am

Practicality of dying aside, I simply don't want to. Ever. It may be a pipe-dream, but I hope that we can find some way.

Permalink Reply by Iain McMahon on February 15, 2010 at 6:55pm

I agree.

I'm currently researching the link between death anxiety and afterlife beliefs. On the "plus side" for religion, it turns out that increasing religiosity causes lower anxiety or depression relating to death. On the other hand, atheists and agnostics have higher death anxiety.

However, it seems like small comfort. The religious worldview might make somebody go to their death slightly happier but, as George Bernard Shaw said, "The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality."

Personally, I think death sucks. Nobody is going to quote me on that 150 years after MY birth, but it's still true. I think death is *the* most pernicious problem that humanity could ever possibly face.

I'm reminded of "The Fable of the Dragon-tyrant" by Nick Bostrom, in my opinion one of the best articles written against death that I have read. Check it out if you haven't: http://www.nickbostrom.com/fable/dragon.html

I'm not sure why anti-senescence isn't THE number one need on the mind (and financial budget) of all world governments. Oh wait, yes I do... it's because of religion (the ultimate after-life insurance).