It seems to me that it is a pretty common conception amongst those who think at least occasionally.

Would seem reasonable, except afaik only me and Vael have ever used it in moral/ethical discussions when it should be a key consideration

Even in a conversation about why we should(nt) smoke it harms the key argument used by those against but also provides a strong argument against that they never use.

I try to run after it and grab it, think I will come closer that way . The grabbing part may be an illusion. At least the truth appears a bit bigger when closing in.

You said that like a multitabler.

Please repost in english.

Would seem reasonable, except afaik only me and Vael have ever used it in moral/ethical discussions when it should be a key consideration

Even in a conversation about why we should(nt) smoke it harms the key argument used by those against but also provides a strong argument against that they never use.

Just saw a pre-screening of Transcendant Man and thought it was awesome. They show a lot of critiquing views, and the movie does nothing to dispel those views. The movie is very clearly pro-Kurzweil, but it's nice that it doesn't assume everything is fact, and talks about many of the problems w/ all this.

The closing quote if the movie is awesome, but no spoilers here.

Dresden Codak is a transhumanist comic.

Meh. nice repost. Perhaps I was drunk when I misunderstood you.

I use it in everyday life, but I am not sure how to expand it into a theory other than just saying "yeah, eastern philosophy is cool." + future me might be a little pissed off that I ****ed up/improved his life.

As long as you enjoy the chase, you are ok.

I prefer focussing on the end, which is enjoying.

I really dont see it as Eastern philosophy. Its straight from the western analytic problem of personal identity.

I cant see any particular difficulty in application (no more than anything else anyway). As its always ignored I've tended to assume that even people who dont invent irrational 'soul' like concepts are so hung up on their belief they remain the same person that they cant bring themselves to seriously consider the matter.

In retrospect an inconsequential change would have been classier

I focus on the first part. I just have to, for some reason, always have. At times I enjoy, others not. How seriously I have taken the results has varied, I´m in a period when I still want to see things as they are, but don´t let them get to me so much emotionally.

Does enjoyment trump all things? And if it does, does focusing on enjoyment as a goal maximize the sum total of your enjoyment?

I don´t know how to take this statement. Is it lack of humor on my behalf, taking things too seriously, feeling not anything can happen, or what

For application, "future me(mach1) = future me(mach2) = ... = present me," seems to be reasonable (ethically).

I am not sure that this would result in any difference from just "me" though.

Cults typically have a charismatic leader, attract the vulnerable and appeal to faith rather than logic. The singularity movement has none of these features.

Kurzweil missed some specific predictions but he's done pretty well and technology is clearly growing exponentially. Watson should have people ******** their pants. So should some of the recent achievements in robotics.

But you gotta admit guys, if Kurzweil actually IS right and makes it to immortality, he is just going to laugh so much and we're going to feel like idiots.

For this particular cult it's enough to have a leader, no need for charisma, he isn't charming them with his dick, he is charming them with eternal life.
In my book, any follower of a clear pipe-dream is vulnerable.
And yes this cult appeals to faith, faith of eternal life that is right around the corner.

If I make it to immortality, I'm going to feel like a rock star. I'll buy Kurzweil a beer.

I'd say being able to woo others with a promise of reward is a form of charisma. Obviously nit-picking, but still.

I've addressed why people believe this stuff you just find the conclusion shocking and repeated your surprise disguised as an argument.

Faith means believing something despite or even because of lack of evidence. In this case we have a surprising conclusion that was arrived at independently by Ray kurzweil and hans moravec. It has a strong empirical case.

Kurzweil isn't winning people over with his personality and he's convincing people who for the most part passed up all the other eternal life bearing cults you should give the argument a chance. Calling it a cult is incorrect.

The biggest obstacle I've had lately in explaining the singularity is dealing withe the fact that it has become so intuitively obvious most people doubt I'm saying anything new.

Is maintaining a human body for hundreds if years possible? Can we ever build an ai?

If you answer no to either it's you who is indoctrinated and closed minded. The timeline and kurweils personal qwerks are a red herring. It's a shame if it keeps people from seeing what's coming faster than they think.

I guess it´s too soon to ask Watson about this.

"The Technological Singularity" itself is one of Kurzweil's personal quirks.

You want to talk about accelerating technological growth, talk about accelerating technological growth. The domain of an exponential function is all real numbers, there are no singularities.

My answer is 'probably yes' to both, especially to the 'ever' part.
It's the timeline, "just around the corner" part that is bothering me because it clearly reveals Kurzweil's mental disorders (fear of death, inabilities to accept loss and many more).
His timeline is clearly influenced by his belief that he will live to see this singularity.
So I can't take him seriously, sorry.

The way I see it, Kurzweil and his followers are desperately trying to build his credibility by spinning his lol futuristic predictions like something very acurate but they aren't fooling anyone but themselves.
Kurzweil can't predict 10 years down the road let alone something else, so I put his 'prophesizing' in the same category as "He could walk on water" and "He could turn water into wine", a myth.
And why are you people so concerned about what others think?
You believe in singularity and you believe it will happen soon, good for you, go work on it, help the cause, why are you looking for other people's acceptance?
You need donations?

Yep, it's a cult.

One of his graffs was genuinely interesting though (the one that intersects x axis at the notorious year 2029 or what was it). If for nothing else then for making one curious about what kind of bias resulted in it.