The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
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- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Ray Kurzweil
- ISBN：0715635611
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Summary
Inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil examines the next step in the evolutionary process of the union of human and machine。 Kurzweil foresees the dawning of a new civilization where we will be able to transcend our biological limitations and amplify our creativity， combining our biological skills with the vastly greater capacity， speed and knowledge-sharing abilities of our creations。 In practical terms， human ageing and illness will be reversed; pollution will be stopped and world hunger and poverty will be solved。 There will be no clear distinction between human and machine， real reality and virtual reality。 The Singularity is Near offers a view of the coming age that is both a dramatic culmination of centuries of technological ingenuity and a genuinely inspiring vision of our ultimate destiny。
Reviews
Gary Sonnenberg
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Skimmed lots of it。
David Johann Lensing
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Schade， dass Kurzweil sich seine verfehlten Prognosen nicht klarer eingesteht。 An sich wieder ein lesenswertes Werk voller spannender Gedanken， die mich teils überzeugen， mir teils überzogen erscheinen。 Bin gespannt auf sein Folgewerk Singularity is Nearer。
Fairport Public Library
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October 2008， Pat R， NonFiction
Sunil Rajasekar
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This is a very thought-provoking and mind-expanding book。 Ray Kurzweil is a very well-known technologist and futurist and provides a credible and very optimistic view of where technology is taking us。 Enjoyed it even the second time。
Robert Narojek
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It goes without saying that Ray is primarily an engineer， not a writer。 We will not experience any literary value here - but that is not the point。 The key question is whether the author's vision of the future of technology is coherent or does he have gaps in his study？ It seems that Ray is right on key points （this is also confirmed by the opinions of other specialists）。 The only weak point in my opinion is the excessive optimism of the author with regard to the economic and socio-political asp It goes without saying that Ray is primarily an engineer， not a writer。 We will not experience any literary value here - but that is not the point。 The key question is whether the author's vision of the future of technology is coherent or does he have gaps in his study？ It seems that Ray is right on key points （this is also confirmed by the opinions of other specialists）。 The only weak point in my opinion is the excessive optimism of the author with regard to the economic and socio-political aspects。 It is inevitable feeling that he is a child of the US free market economy in its glorious age and underestimates the power with which crises affect reality。 However， this does not affect the essence of the argument， it only delays the inevitable。 The appearance of a strong AI is only a matter of time， and the consequences of this event can only be compared with the landing of aliens。 We are going to live in extremely interesting times。 I can only be happy that I am quite old now ☺ 。。。more
Aion
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The techno-optimist vision of the future。
Liquidlasagna
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i found this commentDoug Hofstadter， author of Godel， Escher， Bach” said once in an interview in the New Yorker"If you read Ray Kurzweil’s books。。。。what I find is that it’s a very bizarre mixture of ideas that are solid and good with ideas that are crazy。 It’s as if you took a lot of very good food and some dog excrement and blended it all up so that you can’t possibly figure out what’s good or bad。"yes you heard it here first50% dog crap---"Mitch Kapor， the founder of Lotus Development Corporat i found this commentDoug Hofstadter， author of Godel， Escher， Bach” said once in an interview in the New Yorker"If you read Ray Kurzweil’s books。。。。what I find is that it’s a very bizarre mixture of ideas that are solid and good with ideas that are crazy。 It’s as if you took a lot of very good food and some dog excrement and blended it all up so that you can’t possibly figure out what’s good or bad。"yes you heard it here first50% dog crap---"Mitch Kapor， the founder of Lotus Development Corporation， has called the notion of a technological singularity "intelligent design for the IQ 140 people。"---Then again i haven't seen a futurist i've remotely liked after 1980 。。。more
Lauri Ehrenpreis
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The topics are super interesting - future of computing， AI， bio and nanotechnology。The main thesis is that information based technologies will continue to evolve exponentially and that leads to some pretty fun conclusions。 By 2050 a laptop exceeds the computing power of all human brains on Earth。 By 2100 we could have turned all the mass and energy in our solar system into a giant computer doing 10^69 calculations per second :）Trying to predict the future that far isn't that interesting to me。 I The topics are super interesting - future of computing， AI， bio and nanotechnology。The main thesis is that information based technologies will continue to evolve exponentially and that leads to some pretty fun conclusions。 By 2050 a laptop exceeds the computing power of all human brains on Earth。 By 2100 we could have turned all the mass and energy in our solar system into a giant computer doing 10^69 calculations per second :）Trying to predict the future that far isn't that interesting to me。 I would let the emerging AI decide if it makes sense to turn the solar system or the entire universe into a giant computer。 It should be much smarter than us anyway :） But discussions about things like brain reverse engineering and self-replicating nanobots are more interesting。It's true that the growth of computing power hasn't run out of steam， and it doesn't seem like it will anytime soon。 However I'm not convinced that the overall progress will be exponential， as the problems we are trying to solve are also getting harder。 Self driving cars are 5 years away for 10 years already and nuclear fusion is 40 years away and always will be:）Since the book was written 15 years ago， many of its predictions can be tested soon。 By the 2020s we should have nanobots in our bloodstream and by 2029 we should see human-level general AI。 Will be waiting for updated predictions in his upcoming book "Singularity is Nearer" next year！ 。。。more
Chris Pearse
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Another book I ‘read’ for my thesis。 I forgot how unbearable futurist writers can be and I wasn’t a fan of Kurzweil’s techno-utopian optimism， even if he is an expert in technological development and innovation。 The whole idea of becoming digital gives me the heebie jeebies and to be honest， I only read the parts pertaining to my topic and stayed away from the parts that were leaning toward genetic editing。。。
Camryn
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Such a brilliant， thought provoking read。 It felt like taking a college course， and frankly， my brain during a pandemic has major ADHD， so this took me approximately a billion years to finish。 BUT， each chapter was so interesting and nerdy， and yeah， I was 100% here for it。 I think maybe 0。5% of my friends would like this book， but it's a seriously dense and intriguing read。 Such a brilliant， thought provoking read。 It felt like taking a college course， and frankly， my brain during a pandemic has major ADHD， so this took me approximately a billion years to finish。 BUT， each chapter was so interesting and nerdy， and yeah， I was 100% here for it。 I think maybe 0。5% of my friends would like this book， but it's a seriously dense and intriguing read。 。。。more
Aby Koshy
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A Cyborg future。。。 Interesting and Scary。。
Kevin
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Cool book， but mostly reiterates what he'd covered in a previous book， and which felt more profound。 Cool book， but mostly reiterates what he'd covered in a previous book， and which felt more profound。 。。。more
Mustafa Acungil
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https://mustafaacungil。com/2021/02/13。。。 https://mustafaacungil。com/2021/02/13。。。 。。。more
Allen
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The Singularity is an era in which our intelligence will become increasingly nonbiological and trillions of times more powerful than it is today—the dawning of a new civilization that will enable us to transcend our biological limitations and amplify our creativity。
Giangy Giang
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I've heard about Ray Kurzweil and Singularity for a while now。 This is a very comprehensive analysis of different manifestations of Singularity in our lives currently as well as future potentials。 Despite the fact that Kurzweil sometimes expresses too strong of an opposition towards slowing down progress， I think he has made his point very clear。 That is， as a species， as humans， we need to move forward and explore all the possibilities。 Nevertheless， the first question we all need to answer is I've heard about Ray Kurzweil and Singularity for a while now。 This is a very comprehensive analysis of different manifestations of Singularity in our lives currently as well as future potentials。 Despite the fact that Kurzweil sometimes expresses too strong of an opposition towards slowing down progress， I think he has made his point very clear。 That is， as a species， as humans， we need to move forward and explore all the possibilities。 Nevertheless， the first question we all need to answer is "What does it mean for us to be humans？" then we can choose our side in this urgent matter！ 。。。more
Cindy
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J
Murat Orhan
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İnsanlık 2。0Kitabın orijinal ismi "Singularity is near"。 Tekillik yakında！ Neden "İnsanlık 2。0" olarak çevrilmiş diye garipsemiştim。🤨 Kitabı bitirdikten sonra anladım。 @raykurzweil tekilliği "düşünülemez ölçüde büyük bir değer" olarak tanımlıyor。 Kelime İngilizce olağandışı， eşsiz， garip gibi anlamlara geliyor。 Türkçe Tekillik'in böyle anlamları yok。 O yüzden İnsanlık 2。0 tek çare olmuş。 Çünkü yazar tekilliğe ulaşılınca insanın 2。 versiyonuna evrileceğini düşünüyor。⏮️（Aynı konuyu Max Tegmark yaş İnsanlık 2。0Kitabın orijinal ismi "Singularity is near"。 Tekillik yakında！ Neden "İnsanlık 2。0" olarak çevrilmiş diye garipsemiştim。🤨 Kitabı bitirdikten sonra anladım。 @raykurzweil tekilliği "düşünülemez ölçüde büyük bir değer" olarak tanımlıyor。 Kelime İngilizce olağandışı， eşsiz， garip gibi anlamlara geliyor。 Türkçe Tekillik'in böyle anlamları yok。 O yüzden İnsanlık 2。0 tek çare olmuş。 Çünkü yazar tekilliğe ulaşılınca insanın 2。 versiyonuna evrileceğini düşünüyor。⏮️（Aynı konuyu Max Tegmark yaşamı merkeze alarak tartışmıştı。 O da insanın 3。0 versiyona evrileceğini düşünüyor。 Hemfikirler aslında。 Sadece isimlendirmelerde ufak farklılıklar var。）"Gelecekteki zaman dilimlerinde mümkün olanlara ilişkin uzun vadeli çoğu öngörü， gelecekteki gelişmelerin gücünü çok hafife almaktadır;🤦 çünkü bu öngörüler "tarihe dayalı üstel" bakışa değil， benim "sezgiye dayalı doğrusal" olarak adlandırdığım tarih bakışına dayanır。 。。。Modellerim， paradigma değişim hızını her 10 yılda bir ikiye katladığımızı göstermektir。 20。 yy。 bugünün ilerleme temposuna doğru hızlanarak yaklaşmış;📈 2000 yılının ilerleme hızına göre 20 yıllık bir ilerlemeye eşdeğer bir başarı sağlamıştır。 Yalnızca 14 yıl içerisinde （2014 yılına kadar） 20 yıllık bir ilerleme daha kaydedeceğiz， sonra aynı ilerlemeyi yalnızca 7 yılda kaydedeceğiz。 Bunu başka bir biçimde ifade etmek gerekirse， 21。 yy。'da yaşayacağımız 100 yıllık bir teknolojik ilerleme olmayacak; yaklaşık 20。000 yıllık bir ilerlemeye（yine bugün ilerleme hızı ile ölçüldüğünde） ya da 20。 yy。'da kaydedilen ilerlemenin 1。000 katı ilerlemeye tanık olacağız。"🔝 Hesaplamaların doğru ya da yanlış olduğunu ispatlayamam。 Yanlışsa yüksekten uçan bir kitap okumuş olurum。 Ama doğruysa？😵。Yazara göre insan tekilliğe ulaşınca Genetik，🧬 Nanoteknoloji🔬 ve Robotik🤖 sayesinde biyolojinin yöntemlerine egemen olacak。 Bir müddet teknoloji ile bütünleşecek。 Sonra -buna 6。 evre diyor- adeta teknolojinin kendisi olacak ve canlılığın temel yasası ölümlülüğü değiştirecek。🚷Bölümlerin sonunda kurgusal çok güzel diyaloglar， başında da ufuk açıcı sözler var。⤵️ "Herkes kendi görüşünün sınırlarını dünyanın sınırları olarak kabul eder。"。#alfayayınları #raykurzweil 。。。more
Roberto Rigolin F Lopes
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I read this book “together” with my robovac in 2020， about 15 years after its publication in 2005。 So here goes some updates on the singularity。 The robovac already stole my job as floor cleaner。 Beautiful。 But now I got promoted to a robovac cleaner。 Notice that this is another unwanted profession that I learned by myself and HAVE to perform for a few minutes a week。 Hence， I bought this book to see when this damn machine will start cleaning itself; that is a singularity within my household。 Th I read this book “together” with my robovac in 2020， about 15 years after its publication in 2005。 So here goes some updates on the singularity。 The robovac already stole my job as floor cleaner。 Beautiful。 But now I got promoted to a robovac cleaner。 Notice that this is another unwanted profession that I learned by myself and HAVE to perform for a few minutes a week。 Hence， I bought this book to see when this damn machine will start cleaning itself; that is a singularity within my household。 This crazy book is suggesting that my robovac has much more potential for tapping the computing power available in this Universe than you; assuming that you are an unassisted biological human （like bio fruits in the supermarket）。 The problem is that machines are designed by humans。 And humans are carbon-based machines very slow/hard to upgrade so these fools need machines to get smarter。 As I am writing these words， clever fools called scientists are training machines to solve easy problems like playing Go and driving cars instead of upgrading my robovac to do laundry and dishes （truly hard problems）。 Ray is guessing that the machines will soon break this cycle to start evolving themselves without slow fools in the loop becoming more intelligent than humans。 Remember that superior intelligence is hard to control but there is also symbiosis going on looking for better interfaces between animals and machines。 Such “boundless” intelligence could spread over the Universe and even re-engineer the distribution of matter in space and time （Ray is nuts sometimes）。 Takeaways: （a） we are not so smart; （b） this universe has an enormous and largely unexplored computing power; and （c） black holes might be the ultimate computer by having a singular density。 I am very much looking forward to the singularity nearby。 。。。more
SirmaxforD
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A great book。 While the exact prediction and dates could be wrong， this book contains great ideas， predictions， and useful visions about the possible future。 A must read for all scientists， engineers， and tech enthusiasts alike。
Arda Alkkåskøgen
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Kitapla ilgili yapabileceğim tek olumsuz eleştiri muhtemelen tekrar yoğunluğu。 Bu bir iki cümle için ya da tam bir paragraf için de olsa biraz okuma zevkini - yavaşlatmak suretiyle - baltalayabilir。 Tabii ki böyle bir etki de herkes için geçerli olmayacaktır。 Yine aynı şekilde bir kısım okuyucu da detay fazlalığından şikayetçi olacaktır ancak bu eleştiriyi haklı bulabileceğimi sanmıyorum。 Konunun girift yapısı düşünüldüğünde kitaba konu edilen unsurların bu ölçüde detaylı anlatımı kimi zaman yet Kitapla ilgili yapabileceğim tek olumsuz eleştiri muhtemelen tekrar yoğunluğu。 Bu bir iki cümle için ya da tam bir paragraf için de olsa biraz okuma zevkini - yavaşlatmak suretiyle - baltalayabilir。 Tabii ki böyle bir etki de herkes için geçerli olmayacaktır。 Yine aynı şekilde bir kısım okuyucu da detay fazlalığından şikayetçi olacaktır ancak bu eleştiriyi haklı bulabileceğimi sanmıyorum。 Konunun girift yapısı düşünüldüğünde kitaba konu edilen unsurların bu ölçüde detaylı anlatımı kimi zaman yetersiz bile gelebilir。 Kitabı ortalama okuma hızımdan feragat ederek okumuş olmamın en büyük sebebi de budur; dip notlarla desteklenen anlatım ister istemez bu notlarda önerilen makalelere de hiç yoksa şöyle bir göz atmama neden oldu。Nihayet tüm bu detaya boğulma hissi ile makul bir biçimde başa çıkabildiğinizde ise kitabın son 3 （belki de 4） bölümünün açtığı felsefi tartışma alanının， kitaptan aldığınız zevki epeyce artıracağını düşünüyorum。Not: Bölüm sonlarındaki hayali tartışmalardan， diyaloglardan ekstra keyif aldım。 Geleceğe bulanık da olsa bir pencereden bakabilmek için， Kurzweil'in yazdığı kitaplar ve makalelere genel bir bakış sağlaması açısından da， enfes bir kitap。 。。。more
Michał Janiszewski
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Very interesting read， despite the book being over 15 years old。 Some fragments seem repetitive and I had issues with progressing further。
KSL Akilan
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deserves a huge compression to the few strong theses it has; to comprehend comprehensively in current format one has to spend inordinately inefficient time and effort。
Michele
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First of all， this book is old。 2005。 That’s a problem for a book discussing the future into which we’re speeding。 But I have always been fascinated by ideas about the future and Joe Scott， of one of my new favorite YouTube channels this year， recommended it。 It’s a big， complex book。 I didn’t understand some of it。 But I was determined。 And it was very interesting and gave me hope。 I have been a little skeptical about some predictions but this book made me understand how they are possible， even First of all， this book is old。 2005。 That’s a problem for a book discussing the future into which we’re speeding。 But I have always been fascinated by ideas about the future and Joe Scott， of one of my new favorite YouTube channels this year， recommended it。 It’s a big， complex book。 I didn’t understand some of it。 But I was determined。 And it was very interesting and gave me hope。 I have been a little skeptical about some predictions but this book made me understand how they are possible， even probable。 I’m consuming related， more recent content too。 The timeline presented in this book is not perfectly accurate but that doesn’t mean the ideas are impossible。 If you’re interested but don’t have time to read a heavy book， he has a website and there are plenty of newer resources available online。 But if you want to get a deep discussion about the Singularity I recommend this book。 。。。more
John Landolfe
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Pseudo-science book written by wealthy guy with wealthy friends who got a bachelors degree fifty years ago。 He likes to put the word "quantum" in front of other words in bold statements that are largely unproven。He has some weird， long-winded rants against environmentalism。 Basically， he thinks humans should control the whole of "the environment" with nanotech and so trying to retain any semblance of reality that we didn't personally design is stupid。 Okay， first we don't have that kind of tech Pseudo-science book written by wealthy guy with wealthy friends who got a bachelors degree fifty years ago。 He likes to put the word "quantum" in front of other words in bold statements that are largely unproven。He has some weird， long-winded rants against environmentalism。 Basically， he thinks humans should control the whole of "the environment" with nanotech and so trying to retain any semblance of reality that we didn't personally design is stupid。 Okay， first we don't have that kind of tech and may all be dead from a lack of interest in our habitat long before we get there。 Second， the parts of the universe we didn't "design" are the coolest， most interesting parts of the universe。 People occasionally enjoy landscaping I suppose but nothing on the level of actual wilderness。 And yeah Ray would say， "oh wilderness is already full of our land management， pollution， etc。" But he would mean "people management。" We didn't design the rocks at Yosemite。 We just make and sometimes pickup our trash。 If people like the redwoods， maybe chill and take a stroll through the redwoods and stop flailing your hands about your imaginary nanobots。Third， there's no particular reason or motive for humans to completely design physical reality。 It would be far more efficient in energy， time， space， human capital， et al to design in virtual space。 Why make a moon out of nanobots when we have real moons and can just upload our designer chic moons to whatever replaces No Man's Sky in 3000 A。D。 if we make it that far。Anyway， this strikes me as an Atlas Shrugged for Elon Musk stans。 It congratulates the reader's intelligence for having read the thing while mostly devolving the reader's actual understanding of the surrounding world。 。。。more
Héctor Viruega Günther
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Un libro importante。 Todos deberían por lo menos conocer la idea básica de él。
Bill Contente
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Fun easy read but feels a little dated。 Read it in 2020。 Wish I had read it 2005
Derek
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I read this book on and off for about two months but have only made it through about 40% so far。 I'm fascinated by the general idea of the singularity， but was stupidly unprepared for the amount of scientific and technical specifics that it gets into。 Guess I was just hoping for more theory and less minutiae。 But I've still got a good chunk to go， so maybe it gets more into that at some point。 I stepped away from this book several months ago， but I do hope to give it at least one more shot at so I read this book on and off for about two months but have only made it through about 40% so far。 I'm fascinated by the general idea of the singularity， but was stupidly unprepared for the amount of scientific and technical specifics that it gets into。 Guess I was just hoping for more theory and less minutiae。 But I've still got a good chunk to go， so maybe it gets more into that at some point。 I stepped away from this book several months ago， but I do hope to give it at least one more shot at some point before the year is out。 。。。more
Ashim Sharma
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Wow 。What a read ！Seems an stunning，engaging and somewhat utopian sight of plausible future 。 Although， some part seems a mere speculation resting upon extrapolation of curves ; hefty optimism on timelines ， the amazing trait about futurist is that they show where to gaze upon ; the possibility build upon science。
Michael Gerardi
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