| Hi friends, | Welcome to the thirty-third dispatch of How Humans Flourish, a research-informed newsletter on how humans thrive. | Exciting news: break*through, in collaboration with JP Morgan and Blue Cross Blue Shield, is imagining a future where wellness isn't just a buzzword, but a lived reality—fueled by tech and driven by human potential. | On September 16, 2024, we're kicking off our first How Humans Flourish event—a 30-day virtual immersion designed for those ready to disrupt wellness and healthcare. Expect AI-driven insights, masterclasses that challenge the norm, and a community ready to break barriers. | This is where innovation meets impact. | | Speaking of the future, this month we've been reading The Singularity is Nearer: When We Merge With AI by futurist and technologist Ray Kurzwell. | Ray predicts the singularity will occur in 2045, and unlike many of us, in both imagination and worldview, he is already living there. "The singularity" sounds ominous, and in a way it is, but not because it promises some sort of menacing future, but rather because it evokes the Latin root of the word—omen, which simply means a sign of events to come, whether good or bad. | Ray writes, "As artificial intelligence grows in ability and information becomes more accessible, we are integrating these capabilities ever more closely with our natural biological intelligence. Eventually nanotechnology will enable these trends to culminate in directly expanding our brains with layers of virtual neurons in the cloud. In this way we will merge with AI and augment ourselves with millions of times the computational power that our biology gave us. This will expand our intelligence and consciousness so profoundly that it's difficult to comprehend. This event is what I mean by the Singularity." (Kurzwell, pg 1 - Kindle) | I can't know for sure, but I believe reactions to the above excerpt will fall into three camps: | The first group is ready for the singularity and are waiting on Elon Musk to make the neuralink available for a monthly subscription. The second are the complete opposite and have already unsubscribed. And then there's the third group, which I think is the middle majority. There's a mixture of curiosity and intrigue, but also fear and caution. Sure, we are excited about the potentiality of the future… but, we have questions. Like what exactly does he mean by expanding our brains with layers of virtual neurons in the cloud?
| Ray charts humanity's evolution through a time-based framework. Starting from the Earth's creation, he theorizes there are Six Epochs, and we are currently living in the Fourth. In the Fourth Epoch, humans "use their higher-level cognitive ability, along with their thumbs, to translate thoughts into complex actions." | He continues, "With brains, we added roughly one cubic inch of brain matter every 100,000 years, whereas with digital computation we are doubling price-performance about every sixteen months. In the Fifth Epoch, we will directly merge biological human cognition with the speed and power of our digital technology. This is brain–computer interfaces. Human neural processing happens at a speed of several hundred cycles per second, as compared with several billion per second for digital technology. In addition to speed and memory size, augmenting our brains with nonbiological computers will allow us to add many more layers to our neocortices—unlocking vastly more complex and abstract cognition than we can currently imagine…" (Kurzwell, pg 8 - Kindle) | According to Ray, we'll enter the Fifth Epoch around 2029– which means the amount of behavioral change we'll see in the next four and a half years will be…startling. | We will (as we always do with new innovation) ask ourselves: what does it mean to be human, truly? | Ray has some ideas, but I think it's for each of us to contemplate for ourselves. | Until next week. | With gratitude, | | | | | Tech founder working to leave the world better than I found it. Currently building break*through, an innovations company pioneering empathy-driven technology. | Our first digital product designs AI driven, gamified virtual support groups that increase emotional, mental, and physical health literacy. | Want to connect? Reach out on LinkedIn or Instagram. |
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