Obsession with longevity?
Critics say Kurzweil’s predictions of immortality are wild fantasies based on unjustifiable leaps from current technology.

“I’m not calling Ray a quack, but I am calling his message about immortality in line with the claims of other quacks that are out there,” said Thomas Perls, a Boston University aging specialist who studies the genetics of centenarians.

Sherwin Nuland, a bioethics professor at Yale University’s School of Medicine, calls Kurzweil a “genius” but also says he’s a product of a narcissistic age when brilliant people are becoming obsessed with their longevity.

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“They’ve forgotten they’re acting on the basic biological fear of death and extinction, and it distorts their rational approach to the human condition,” Nuland said.

Kurzweil says his critics often fail to appreciate the exponential nature of technological advance, with knowledge doubling year by year so that amazing progress eventually occurs in short periods.

His predictions, Kurzweil said, are based on carefully constructed scientific models that have proven accurate. For instance, in his 1990 book, “The Age of Intelligent Machines,” Kurzweil predicted the development of a worldwide computer network and of a computer that could beat a chess champion.

“It’s not just guesses,” he said. “There’s a methodology to this.”

Thinking big since he was little
Kurzweil has been thinking big ever since he was little. At age 8, he developed a miniature theater in which a robotic device moved the scenery. By 16, the New York City native built his own computer and programmed it to compose original melodies.

His interest in health developed out of concern about his own future. Kurzweil’s grandfather and father suffered from heart disease, his father dying when Kurzweil was 22. Kurzweil was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in his mid-30s.

After insulin treatments were ineffective, Kurzweil devised his own solution, including a drastic cut in fat consumption, allowing him to control his diabetes without insulin.

His rigorous health regimen is not excessive, just effective, he says, adding that his worst sickness in the last several years has been mild nasal congestion.

In the past decade, Kurzweil’s interests in technology and health sciences have merged as scientists have discovered similarities.

“All the genes we have, the 20,000 to 30,000 genes, are little software programs,” Kurzweil said.

CONTINUED : Three bridges to immortality

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