Gabriel Peterson

Annotated Bibliography

Should Humanity Embrace Immortality?

Gabriel Peterson

Professor Malcolm Campbell

UWRT 1104

10/11/2017
 Gabriel Peterson

"Ray Kurzweil: Humans Will Be Hybrids by 2030." 2045. 2045 Strategic Social Initiative, 6

Aug. 2015. Web. 15 Oct. 2017.

This source is considered a reliable website since its entire purpose is to present news,

information and to gather support for humanitys progress on transcendence by 2045.

This article describes Kurzweils prediction of immortality and the process of how it will

be achieved. It also provides some of Kurzweils past inventions and predictions, many

of which came true. Kurzweil describes the early stage as humans becoming hybrids,

where humans will be able to back up their brains and connect directly to the cloud

by around the year 2030. Basically, humans would be able to access lifelike simulations Commented [1]: Could you clarify this a little more?
What does Kurzweil mean by this?
of the world or even generate their own world to entertain themselves with. In other

words, any human could become the god of their own world and do whatever they wish

with it. The possibilities would be limitless with these simulations. Not only would the

cloud provide simulations, it would also augment the existing intelligence of humans,

making us smarter than ever. The person whos the focus of this article is Ray Kurzweil.

Hes an author, inventor, futurist and Googles current Director of Engineering. In the Commented [2]: It is always important to address the
reliability of the source. Good job!
1990s, Kurzweil made 147 technological predictions for 2009. Out of those 147

predictions, 115 of them came true which gives Kurzweil an accuracy of 86 percent.

Some of Kurzweils most famous inventions include the electronic keyboard and speech-

to-text technology. This article is informative in that it provides data on one of

immortalitys most famous supporters and his view on it. It also provides a link to an Commented [3]: Is there anyone else the article
mentions that you could include here?
article on Elon Musks opposition of creating/programming AI that is intelligent enough

to become self-aware. I plan to use this article in my project because of the Kurzweils

credentials and his past achievements.

Serfer, David Brin Runaway. "Do We Really Want Immortality?" DAVID BRIN: Do We Really

Want Immortality? N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2017.

The author of this scholarly article is an author and futurist with a PhD in physics. The

author discusses several ways humanity could achieve immortality ranging from simple

lifestyle adjustments all the way to transcendence. By definition, transcendence is when Commented [4]: Perhaps elaborate on what
"transcendence" means?
the usual limits of something are surpassed. Many futurist call human transcendence the

Singularity, where AI will have reached the level of superintelligence, vastly

surpassing human intelligence. Humans and machines in the form of nanobots would

then merge together, making our thinking primarily non-biological. While discussing

these options, he describes each option and its pros and cons. For example, he describes

lifestyle adjustments as changing ones hygiene and diet and offering surefire rewards

such as extending ones lifespan, but not long lasting compared to the other options. Or

with intervention and repair which involves nanobots, it would be effective in

reproducing organs, limbs, etc. but could possibly increase the cost of medical care. The Commented [5]: Does the article say exactly how this
would effect healthcare? If so, please mention so.
author ends his article with the broad question, Are humans wise enough to be

immortal? and then follows up on various sub-questions and scenarios. An example Commented [6]: This is a very good point to address.
This could also bring about many different viewpoints in
terms of how humans would deal with the concept of
would be when humans seek new thrills in life -- such as extreme sports -- in order to immortality. Perhaps you could talk more about the
author's view?
bring death out of retirement and add some spice to an otherwise boring and dull eternity

of living. This article was very informative for me in that it provides many questions and

possible scenarios for said questions. This author is reliable because of his credentials as

having a PhD related to this topic. I plan to use this article in my project because of the

authors credentials and various options, questions and scenarios provided. Commented [7]: Clear and to the point. Well done.
 Gabriel Peterson

"Reinvent Yourself." KurzweilAI Reinvent Yourself the IPlayboy Interview with Ray Kurzweil.

KurzweilAI, 27 Apr. 2016. Web. 16 Oct. 2017.

This is a developed article from Kurzweils main website. Its a summarized version of

Playboys interview with Ray Kurzweil. This article provides over 40 questions answered

by Kurzweil, some answers being descriptive paragraphs while others being simple single

sentence replies. It also goes into great detail about Kurzweils personal view on

immortality and how he wishes to still be alive when its achieved and the backup plan Commented [8]: Is this a process like a lifestyle
change? Or is this a state of being? Or perhaps an
"experiment" of sorts?
should he die beforehand. To live as long as possible, Kurzweil maintains a healthy diet

and lifestyle. Should he approach Deaths door, Kurzweil has already made arrangements

to be put on cryogenic stasis until he can be revived. He describes it as four plans; A, B,

and C are to stay alive while plan D is cryo stasis. What Kurzweil describes isnt the

singularity, but its precursor where computers will have passed a valid Turing Test, Commented [9]: Please describe the "Turing Test".

making them indistinguishable from human intelligence in conversation. The Turing

Test was developed in 1950 by Alan Turing. Its a test that determines whether or not a

computer is intelligent enough to show behavior that is equivalent or indistinguishable

from that of a humans behavior. The test involves an evaluator, human subject, and

machine subject. The latter two would communicate with text only, and all three subjects

would be separated from one another with the evaluator only knowing that one

participant is a machine. If the evaluator is unable to reliably tell the difference between

the machine and the human, the machine passes the test. This source is very informative

in that it has more descriptive answers to many asked questions about immortality than

most other sources. It also reveals that Kurzweils IQ is 165, which is considered high-
 Gabriel Peterson

genius level intelligence. This very much adds to Kurzweils credibility. I definitely plan

to use this interview in my project because of Kurzweils credentials and the many

questions and answers provided. Commented [10]: This is good. Just remember to go
over the important parts of the interview for the final
draft.

Grossman, Lev. "2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal." Time. Time Inc., 10 Feb. 2011. Web.

18 Oct. 2017.

This is a developed article from TIME Magazine. It compares the opinion on immortality

between two futurists, Ray Kurzweil and Aubrey de Grey. In the beginning, the article

starts off with explaining Kurzweil's rise in the technology business from presenting the

first music composed by a computer on TV in 1965 to being awarded the National Medal

of Technology in 1999 by President Bill Clinton. It also explains de Greys view on aging

and how he thinks aging is accumulating damage for humans. De Grey is a British

biologist who graduated with a doctorate from Cambridge and runs the foundation known

as SENS. I plan to use this article because it is reliable and contains a lot of information.