Have you ever seriously considered the implications of living forever? Would you want to if it were feasible? Well, according to scientist and author Ray Kurzweil, these questions may become more relevant in the near future. He predicts that we may identify the key to immortality in the next 20 years. This may have everything to do with nanobots replacing our blood cells.
Yes, that does seem like sci-fi. It sounds spooky, too, but Kurzweil is enthusiastic about this, and he boasts some very smart people as fans. According to Business Insider two famous and powerful Bills – Clinton and Gates – are big Kurzweil fans.
Rise of the nanobots?
Regardless of how “out-there” Kurzweil’s ideas are, they may be a very real possibility. In about 20 years, scientists believe they’ll have found a way to halt andreverse the aging process. Kurzweil then thinks that nanotechnology will come into play, replacing human blood cells, and carrying out the work much more efficiently.
Exponential technology
Again, this soundsastounding, but Kurzweil is basing his predictions on one fact that can’t be disputed: Technology has been advancing at an exponential rate. And this, Kurzweil argues, signifies that immortality is just a few technological leaps away.
That doesn’t, though, answer the bigger question: Should humans live forever? What’s going to happen to the earth? Will overpopulation destroy our natural resources? And, of course, is living forever even something people want? Won’t those people who believe in an afterlife want to ultimately pass from this life? These are all big questions, and if Kurzweil is to be believed, we might all soon be confronting them.
