Humans Will Have Cloud-Connected Hybrid Brains by 2030, Ray Kurzweil Says. So, you think you’ve seen it all?
You haven’t seen anything yet. By the year 2030, advancements will excel anything we’ve seen before concerning human intelligence. In fact, predictions offer glimpses of something truly amazing – the development of a human hybrid, a mind that thinks in artificial intelligence. Ray Kurzweil, director of engineering at Google, spoke openly about this idea at the Exponential Finance Conference in New York. He predicts that humans will have hybrid brains able to connect to the cloud, just as with computers. Kurzweil says: “Our hybrid thinking will be a combination of biological and non-biological thought processes.”
By the end of 2030, our thinking should be almost entirely non-biological and able to function much like an external hard drive – having the ability to backup information as with technology. Kurzweil believes one of the true characteristics of the being human is the ability to continually surpass knowledge. Technological Takeover. Humans In 1000 Years. Future Timeline. Here’s everything that could wipe out humanity ranked in one handy infographic. Need some help with your doomsday prepping?
You’re in luck. This handy BBC Future infographic looks at all of the things that could potentially destroy mankind, and ranks their likelihood of happening in the next decade, century and millennium. You can see a much bigger version here. The infographic isn’t intended to make people panic, but to rationally assess the chance of some commonly feared scenarios - such as nuclear armageddon - actually happening (we're more likely to die from overpopulation, in reality). Each potential armageddon is ranked on a scale from “keep calm” to “it’s all over”, and it's indicated whether it's a man-made or natural threat, and how quickly it could wipe out humanity.
So should we be fearing total anhilation just yet? But don’t panic, we have a long, long time to go before either of those happen. Source: BBC Future. Calico. We know how to end poverty. So why don't we? Technology is destroying jobs and it could spur a global crisis. Anarchy Lives: Rojava. I Grew Up in a Polyamorous Household. Few cultural symbols have as much heft as the "traditional" nuclear family. You know the one: two heterosexual parents, two kids, one dog, two tablespoons of white picket fence, whisk gently.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that—it's just not how I was raised. My parents are polyamorous, a Greek/Latin mishmash word meaning romantic non-monogamy with the consent of everyone involved. As a kid, I lived with my dad, my mom, my mom's partner, and for a while, my mom's partner's partner. Mom might have up to four partners at a time. They first explained it to me when I was about eight. "Because I love him," Mom said, matter-of-factly. "Well, that's good," my brother replied, "because I love him too. " It was never really any more complicated than that. I never resented my parents for hanging out with their partners. I do remember the first time James told me off. It's fortunate I was living in relative familial bliss at home, because school was a living nightmare.
Chinese scientists just admitted to tweaking the genes of human embryos. A group of Chinese scientists just reported that they modified the genome of human embryos, something that has never been done in the history of the world, according to a report in Nature News.
A recent biotech discovery - one that has been called the biggest biotech discovery of the century - showed how scientists might be able to modify a human genome when that genome was still just in an embryo. This could change not only the genetic material of a person, but could also change the DNA they pass on, removing "bad" genetic codes (and potentially adding "good" ones) and taking an active hand in evolution. Concerned scientists published an argument that no one should edit the human genome in this way until we better understood the consequences after a report uncovered rumours that Chinese scientists were already working on using this technology. Specifically, the team tried to modify a gene in a non-viable embryo that would have been responsible for a deadly blood disorder.