The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology

by Ray Kurzweil

BILL GATES: I agree with you 99 percent. What I like about your ideas is that they are grounded in science, but your optimism is almost a religious faith. I’m optimistic also. RAY: Yes, well, we need a new religion. A principal role of religion has been to rationalize death, since up until just now there was little else constructive we could do about it. BILL: What would the principles of the new religion be? RAY: We’d want to keep two principles: one from traditional religion and one from secular arts and sciences—from traditional religion, the respect for human consciousness. BILL: Ah yes, the Golden Rule. RAY: Right, our morality and legal system are based on respect for the consciousness of others. If I hurt another person, that’s considered immoral, and probably illegal, because I have caused suffering to another conscious person. If I destroy property, it’s generally okay if it’s my property, and the primary reason it’s immoral and illegal if it’s someone else’s property is because I have caused suffering not to the property but to the person owning it. BILL: And the secular principle? RAY: From the arts and sciences, it is the importance of knowledge. Knowledge goes beyond information. It’s information that has meaning for conscious entities: music, art, literature, science, technology. These are the qualities that will expand from the trends I’m talking about.