Is Ray Kurzweil an out-of-date Elitist?

 I don't want to be someone I am not.  I am very pragmatic, especially in that if I were one of the elite, I wouldn't be writing this post.  I freely admit it.  I am a power hungry individual who simply has not found his niche yet.
  That being said, the fact that the majority of Americans do not seem to care that the elite classes in our country, as firmly separated from the rest of the detritus as a Kshatriya from a Sudra, treat us with disdain and contempt mystifies me.  At every turn, the elite further separate themselves from the rest of us, and we don't care.
  Someone brought this concern to Mr. Ray Kurzweil, a very respected man among the Futurist, Transhumanist, and Anti-Aging communities, specifically regarding elitist views and behavior in relation to the Singularity.  The letter and Mr. Kurzweil's reply may be found here: http://bit.ly/17JeOEg
  As I am wont to do, I left a rather snarky comment in the comment section.  While the comment itself is somewhat tame compared to some of the things I have said elsewhere, in the case of it possibly not being posted on the referenced site, I have it here for your reading pleasure:
"I enjoy people’s ability to push reality under the rug and pretend to walk all over it, something Mr. Kurzweil has done in his rather unintelligent, backhanded answer to a very valid question. More and more, it seems that Kurzweil and his ilk are beholden to the very entities that wish to control progress and make it only available for the elite. His answer, which is essentially, “Oh, don’t worry, buddy, it will be OK, dontchaknow,” is canned, apparently uninformed at best, and disingenuous at worst. Much respect lost for Mr. Kurzweil in his blatant dodging of a very important question."
  For such a respected individual to so casually remark that "People say, 'Oh, only the rich are going to have these technologies you speak of.' And I say, 'Yeah, like cellphones.' " Is disgusting to me.(quote from the Wall Street Journal,http://on.wsj.com/154j9oD)

  Our lives, if I am not being too nonsensical, are not cellphones.  We are not computers.  We do communicate, yes, and we do perform complex computations, however, we are not simply machines to be thrown away or recycled when our usefulness is no longer up to par.  Yet, this respected individual seems to have the opinion that our value, in a Transhuman/Singularity sense, is equivalent to just such a device.  He even defends this by attempting to force us to view advancement from his regressive perspective:"A kid in Africa with a smartphone is walking around with a trillion dollars of computation circa 1970."   Last time I checked, this was 2013, not 1970, and that kid in Africa is desperately behind the rest of the developed and developing world.  He lives in poverty, but HEY, HE HAS A CELL PHONE!  HE MUST BE DOING JUST GREAT!
  Even the interviewer in the WSJ article seems to be intent on forcing humans into a predefined mold, "Humans are wired to expect "linear" change from their world. They have a hard time grasping the "accelerating, exponential" change that is the nature of information technology."  Personally, I don't have a hard time grasping the serpentine nature of technological advancement, slow moving and sinuous one moment and striking forward with blinding speed the next.  But, I must conform to that rather uninformed and blind view of humanity since, after all, I am a Human, and that's what the elite think of us.
  Ray Kurzweil has outlived his usefulness to the rest of humanity.  He is increasingly becoming a technological and Transhumanist snob, and his view of humanity is the clearest evidence of that.  Just read his books.  Watch and read his interviews.  His increasing detachment from the rest of us encourages him to view himself as separate from the rest of us, a sort of elitist techno-hermit.  We need a new model of a Kurzweil, and I am not referring to a synthesizer.

Fine then, Worship a lightbulb. Retards.(formerly Oh, My God! You're a????)

Now, I am definitely a trans-humanist. My views on what Trans-humanism is are my own, and don't mesh all that well with some other views. Since my, I guess one would call them religious beliefs, are generally Christian leaning with heavy Buddhist undertones, I may catch flack over my beliefs and opinions as they evolve. My belief in God, and I do believe in God, is controversial. However, it makes sense.

The Universe began, to the best of our knowledge, as a Singularity. It existed in finite time, as infinite mass and energy. Everything that exists today was included inside that ball of supercharged particles. Considering that accepted theory states that it consisted, and still consists, mostly of dark matter and dark energy greatly condensed, one must assume this singularity was rather dark.

Then... Boom. Since everything in the Universe was contained within that Singularity, including gaseous components required to make sound, this boom likely made a sound within the super compact ball. The first sound in the Universe miraculously occurred. Without warning, answering only to Laws of Its making, this Singularity spoke.

Light came into being, separating from the darkness as Energy began to visibly react with matter. The four states of matter came into being: solid, liquid, gas, plasma. In the Universe, solids separated from liquids.

Galaxies, stars, and planets formed. Then, something weird happened. Life... evolved. I, personally, don't think that organisms appearing on the universal scale is really that important. If chance created our solar system, chance creating life shouldn't be much of a stretch, if you stop and think about it.

The only constant in all of this, from the big bang to the appearance of life, is energy. All the energy in the Universe was consolidated before the big bang. The Singularity before the bang contained everything in the Universe(all powerful). Everything that we have, everything in the Universe as we know it, occurred due to a shift in that energy.

Thought is energy dancing through our brains. Energy is in everything, an attribute given to God by modern christian beliefs. Though it's concentration in certain areas may differ, the same amount of energy is in the Universe today as was present in the beginning. In that way, it is unchanging. Just like God. Energy was in the beginning, it will be in the Universe still, at it's end. Hmmm... Alpha and Omega, anyone?

When one takes a look at the broad stroke of religion, the Creator(s) are rather impartial. God is just as likely to destroy something as create or nurture it. Energy knows nothing of the passage of time, it is eternal.

Our current concept of Energy, backed by scientific study and theory, has ALL the same attributes of God.

I am not speaking to the open minded, you folks just need to look around a bit more, read a bit. Only those whose fear has closed their eyes to the truth should read this again. Do some research. And if I am wrong, shoot me like you do all those other people who don't believe exactly how you do. Show me how Christ-like you truly are.

This is from about a year ago, though much of it still follows my way of thinking. As I sit and watch the world around me, I see people cling to the irrational more and more. My country is in it's death-throes, and our government is telling us different.

SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM!!!

Quora on Twitter Questions Concerning Transhumanism and My P.O.V.

Is transhumanism a threat to liberal democracy?

In reality, no. In a liberal democracy, power over the country and its policies SHOULD be in the hands of the people, which, sadly, is so often not the case. Transhumanism will inevitably strengthen both the mind and body of the electorate, eventually leading to the usurpation of power from the bigots and demagogues that rule our country. Even now, the electoral college is defunct, as technology allows accurate counting of the popular vote; but, the bureaucrats that sit in the seats of power refuse to relinquish their stranglehold on the freedom of this country. Since it definitely is not a threat to TRUE liberal democracy, the government will inevitably portray it in such a way that it will appear to be. Do you honestly see Nancy Pelosi or Newt Gingrich giving up their power to a powerful populace that, even now, before transhumanism is even popular, is capable of governing itself? No. The true threat to liberal democracy, as history has showed the world in EVERY instance of its use as a country's Political basis are the people the populace puts into power. Eventually, some smooth-talker comes along who does not wish to give up power when the time comes, and the country collapses in upon itself or is devoured from the outside. This happened to Greece, Rome, post-WW1 Germany, Iran, Afghanistan, Post WW2 China, Vietnam...
TFProleteriat, transhumanfreedom.com Edit

If you were able to download a perfect copy of your consciousness into a computer, would you still be alive after your physical body dies?

The answer is simply, "NO".  I, my consciousness, am not a quantifiable conglomeration of ones and zeros.  As copies in the arena of Law are not as good as the real thing, since they are merely copies and not the true document, a copy of myself, imo, would follow the same parameters.  It is a copy of my consciousness, NOT my consciousness in actuality.  However, if transference of consciousness were to occur, as in AVATAR, the parameters of the question would change.  I would not feel satisfied if a copy of myself were made, as I am a greedy human being, and would only be satisfied if my currently functioning consciousness were to continue.

What is the connection between transhumanism and eugenics?

The connection is Imagined, as Eugenics is a breeding program to shape the human race in a manner befitting the ideals of a fascist, diseased perception of the world actually being capable of being "perfect", and the ego-maniacal assumption that the world agrees with one person or group of people about what "perfect" is.  Eugenics is no different than a breeding program to create a Prize-winning show-dog, whereas Transhumanism gives strength and power to the most lowly of mongrels, by allowing the mongrel choice in how to "upgrade" themselves, namely, allowing choice, while eugenics is forced upon unsuspecting generations, making them the target of future mongrels.
Eugenicists represent the worst of the progressive mindset, from Theodore Roosevelt to Adolf Hitler. Transhumanism is it's misunderstood cousin, representing self-directed progression without pretense of racial or ethnic superiority.  I am the mongrel, and I choose to advance how I want.  Watch out show-dog, you might be prettier, but I've got diamond tipped teeth in the mail.  To rip your butt to shreds.

What are some compelling reasons why humans are more than just self-replicating organic computers?

Computers, being incapable of original thought or even propagation(self replication) without outside programming, have few, if any true creative abilities.  Humans are sapient, and capable of considering their environment in the abstract, going beyond mere facts and evidence into the esoteric.  Wikipedia says, "Computation is a process following a well-defined model that is understood and can be expressed in an algorithm, protocol, network topology, etc."  As we are capable of thinking in ways that defy any algorithm, protocol, or topology, we go beyond the machine, into the "Being."  -TFProleteriat
These are a few questions put forth by Quora(in twitter) dealing with transhumanism, and my answers.  I am somewhat different in thinking from many transhumanists, as I wish to glorify in who I am, and I do not actively seek singularity.  "Singularity" sounds too much like a communist doctrine promoting dullness and boredom.  The word itself feels... Gray, dirty.  I am for transhumanism for all, while most transhumanists, whether they realize it or not, have an elitist view of the movement and are "at war with the natural", as stated by a blogger whom I respect greatly, Ghetto Intellectual.  If anyone wants to chime in with their views, I welcome them.