Kurzweil’s book, written in 2012

Our Universe exists because of its informational content. From pure physics to chemistry and biology, evolution started from simple structures (atoms, carbon molecules…) to create more complex ones (DNA, proteins…), and life eventually ! This evolution yielded nervous systems and finally the human brain, which is able of hierarchical thinking. The neocortex is the central piece, it can work with patterns, associate symbols and link them together to give rise to the knowledge that we know. Technology is nothing else but applied knowledge being made possible by humans ability to manipulate objects and make tools. Reverse-engineering the brain to make thinking machines is probably the greatest project ever, one that can transcend humankind.

Even though this book is certainly not the expression of a real scientific work, it is full of optimistic insights and bewildering intuition on future. It is amazing to see how technological progress transformed our societies these last few decades, and we are possibly the witnesses of a major transition never seen before which is going to change humankind forever. Thinking machines able to compete with humans should appear by the 2030s. A natural consequence of LOAR (Law Of Accelerating Return, a postulate stating that evolution accelerates as it grows in complexity and capability) is that humans and machines will meld together, and the computing limits will probably be reached at the end of the century, giving rise to a deeply transformed society potentially able to colonise space and conquer new solar systems.