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Anyone read this today? it was on yahoo earlier...
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/living/health/10893364.htm?1c
He stays fit to see humans live forever
That day is coming - soon, Ray Kurzweil says. He's no crank, though critics call his claims fantasies.
By Jay Lindsay
Associated Press
WELLESLEY, Mass. - Ray Kurzweil doesn't tailgate. A man who plans to live forever doesn't take chances with his health on the highway, or anywhere else.
As part of his daily routine, Kurzweil ingests 250 supplements, eight to 10 glasses of alkaline water, and 10 cups of green tea. He also periodically tracks 40 to 50 fitness indicators, down to his "tactile sensitivity." Adjustments are made as needed.
"I do actually fine-tune my programming," he said.
The famed inventor and computer scientist is serious about his health because if it fails him he might not live long enough to see humanity achieve immortality, a seismic development he predicts is no more than 20 years away.
It's a blink of an eye in history, but long enough for the 56-year-old Kurzweil to pay close heed to his fitness. He urges others to do the same in Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever.
The book is partly a health guide so people can live to benefit from a coming explosion in technology that he predicts will make infinite life possible.
Kurzweil writes of millions of robots the size of blood cells, which he calls "nanobots," that will keep us forever young by swarming through the body, repairing bones, muscles, arteries and brain cells. Improvements to our genetic coding will be downloaded via the Internet. We won't even need a heart.
The claims are fantastic, but Kurzweil is no crank. He's a recipient of the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT prize, billed as the Academy Award for inventors. The Christian Science Monitor has called him a "modern Edison." Perhaps the MIT graduate's most famous invention is the first reading machine for the blind that could read any typeface.
During a recent interview at his company, Kurzweil sipped green tea and spoke of humanity's coming immortality as if it's as good as done. He sees human intelligence not only conquering its biological limits but completely mastering the natural world.
"In my view, we are not another animal, subject to nature's whim," he said.
Critics say Kurzweil's predictions of immortality are wild fantasies based on unjustifiable leaps from current technology.
"I'm not calling Ray a quack, but I am calling his message about immortality in line with the claims of other quacks that are out there," said Thomas Perls, a Boston University aging specialist who studies the genetics of centenarians.
Sherwin Nuland, a bioethics professor at Yale University, calls Kurzweil a "genius" but also says he's a product of a narcissistic age when brilliant people are becoming obsessed with their longevity.
"They've forgotten they're acting on the basic biological fear of death and extinction, and it distorts their rational approach," Nuland said.
Kurzweil says his critics often fail to appreciate the exponential nature of technological advance, with knowledge doubling year by year.
His grandfather and father suffered from heart disease. Kurzweil was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in his mid-30s.
After insulin treatments were ineffective, Kurzweil devised his own solution, including a drastic cut in fat consumption, allowing him to control his diabetes without insulin.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/living/health/10893364.htm?1c
He stays fit to see humans live forever
That day is coming - soon, Ray Kurzweil says. He's no crank, though critics call his claims fantasies.
By Jay Lindsay
Associated Press
WELLESLEY, Mass. - Ray Kurzweil doesn't tailgate. A man who plans to live forever doesn't take chances with his health on the highway, or anywhere else.
As part of his daily routine, Kurzweil ingests 250 supplements, eight to 10 glasses of alkaline water, and 10 cups of green tea. He also periodically tracks 40 to 50 fitness indicators, down to his "tactile sensitivity." Adjustments are made as needed.
"I do actually fine-tune my programming," he said.
The famed inventor and computer scientist is serious about his health because if it fails him he might not live long enough to see humanity achieve immortality, a seismic development he predicts is no more than 20 years away.
It's a blink of an eye in history, but long enough for the 56-year-old Kurzweil to pay close heed to his fitness. He urges others to do the same in Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever.
The book is partly a health guide so people can live to benefit from a coming explosion in technology that he predicts will make infinite life possible.
Kurzweil writes of millions of robots the size of blood cells, which he calls "nanobots," that will keep us forever young by swarming through the body, repairing bones, muscles, arteries and brain cells. Improvements to our genetic coding will be downloaded via the Internet. We won't even need a heart.
The claims are fantastic, but Kurzweil is no crank. He's a recipient of the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT prize, billed as the Academy Award for inventors. The Christian Science Monitor has called him a "modern Edison." Perhaps the MIT graduate's most famous invention is the first reading machine for the blind that could read any typeface.
During a recent interview at his company, Kurzweil sipped green tea and spoke of humanity's coming immortality as if it's as good as done. He sees human intelligence not only conquering its biological limits but completely mastering the natural world.
"In my view, we are not another animal, subject to nature's whim," he said.
Critics say Kurzweil's predictions of immortality are wild fantasies based on unjustifiable leaps from current technology.
"I'm not calling Ray a quack, but I am calling his message about immortality in line with the claims of other quacks that are out there," said Thomas Perls, a Boston University aging specialist who studies the genetics of centenarians.
Sherwin Nuland, a bioethics professor at Yale University, calls Kurzweil a "genius" but also says he's a product of a narcissistic age when brilliant people are becoming obsessed with their longevity.
"They've forgotten they're acting on the basic biological fear of death and extinction, and it distorts their rational approach," Nuland said.
Kurzweil says his critics often fail to appreciate the exponential nature of technological advance, with knowledge doubling year by year.
His grandfather and father suffered from heart disease. Kurzweil was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in his mid-30s.
After insulin treatments were ineffective, Kurzweil devised his own solution, including a drastic cut in fat consumption, allowing him to control his diabetes without insulin.
