The Google and I - "Getting to know me, getting to know all about me....."

In 2009 I read about and wrote a bit about Raymond Kurzweil (and his natal chart). I then felt much admiration for the guy. By 2013 though my admiration was tinged with annoyance that his brilliant mind wasn't being used to address the world's greatest needs.

Now what's he up to?

Google Will Soon Know You Better Than Your Spouse Does, Top Exec Says

Snip:

In short, the Observer writes, Kurzweil believes that Google will soon "know the answer to your question before you have asked it. It will have read every email you've ever written, every document, every idle thought you've ever tapped into a search-engine box. It will know you better than your intimate partner does. Better, perhaps, than even yourself."

As creepy as this may sound to some, Kurzweil -- who has long contended that computers will outsmart us by 2029 -- believes that the improvement of artificial intelligence is merely the next step in our evolution.

"[Artificial intelligence] is not an intelligent invasion from Mars," he told the Montecito Journal in 2012, per a post on his website. "These are brain extenders that we have created to expand our own mental reach. They are part of our civilization. They are part of who we are.

Another article on the same topic, by Carole Cadwalladr is at The Guardian:
Are the robots about to rise? Google's new director of engineering thinks so…
Ray Kurzweil popularised the Teminator-like moment he called the 'singularity', when artificial intelligence overtakes human thinking. But now the man who hopes to be immortal is involved in the very same quest – on behalf of the tech behemoth..............

Dang! I'll repeat my last year's criticism : is this the kind of thing the best and brightest scientific brains on the planet ought to be focusing on? How about lending a few genius-tinted thoughts to climate change, worsening water shortages, and new power sources to name but a few? The world needs its best and brightest minds on such problems right now. If someone doesn't focus on these issues there will not be much of a world left upon which Google could practice its all-seeing, all-knowing crapola.

Minding Our Progress

Our great contemporary scientific geniuses are to be admired, one of these, Raymond Kurzweil about whom there's an archived post HERE - was mentioned in a piece at HuffPo's Science section this week, by Tanya Lewis: Mind Uploading' & Digital Immortality May Be Reality By 2045, Futurists Say. ...SNIPS:

NEW YORK — By 2045, humans will achieve digital immortality by uploading their minds to computers — or at least that's what some futurists believe. This notion formed the basis for the Global Futures 2045 International Congress, a futuristic conference held here June 14-15................................
By 2045, "based on conservative estimates of the amount of computation you need to functionally simulate a human brain, we'll be able to expand the scope of our intelligence a billion-fold," Kurzweil said...............................

Mind uploading~~~~The conference took a surreal turn when Martine Rothblatt — a lawyer, author and entrepreneur, and CEO of biotech company United Therapeutics Corp. — took the stage. Even the title of Rothblatt's talk was provocative: "The Purpose of Biotechnology is the End of Death."

Rothblatt introduced the concept of "mindclones" — digital versions of humans that can live forever. She described how the mind clones are created from a "mindfile," a sort of online repository of our personalities, which she argued humans already have (in the form of Facebook, for example). This mindfile would be run on "mindware," a kind of software for consciousness. "The first company that develops mindware will have [as much success as] a thousand Googles," Rothblatt said. But would such a mindclone be alive? Rothblatt thinks so. She cited one definition of life as a self-replicating code that maintains itself against disorder. Some critics have shunned what Rothblatt called "spooky Cartesian dualism," arguing that the mind must be embedded in biology. On the contrary, software and hardware are as good as wet ware, or biological materials, she argued. Rothblatt went on to discuss the implications of creating mindclones. Continuity of the self is one issue, because your persona would no longer inhabit just a biological body. Then, there are mind-clone civil rights, which would be the "cause célèbre" for the 21st century, Rothblatt said. Even mindclone procreation and reanimation after death were mentioned.

That's all very "skiffy". If predictions by would-be futurists from the past are anything to go by the date 2045, a mere 32 years ahead, will be found to have been decidedly optimistic. But in any case, is this the kind of thing the best and brightest scientific brains on the planet ought to be focusing on? How about lending a few genius-tinted thoughts to climate change, water shortages, new power sources? We need the best and brightest minds on these right now.

I'm the last one to criticise the human urge towards progress, but it does depend in which direction the progress would seem to be heading. A few with more fluent pens than mine have said something along those lines:

“Some upstarts always try to get closer to the source of creation by ascending to the source's level. The story of Icarus is of course a parable about the folly of such an effort. Get too close to the sun and your hubris will get you burned. Yet in the eyes of twenty-first-century capitalist culture, which worships at the twin altars of the individual and technology, Icarus had initiative. And his melted wings do not represent some deep character flaw; he just needed better beta testers.”
― Marcus Wohlsen, Biopunk: DIY Scientists Hack the Software of Life.



“Progress is something with no pity, and no purpose. It just happens. It chews up all you ever knew, and spits out things you can't understand, and the only value it seems to have is to make a few people a lot of money.”
― Spider Robinson, Callahan's Crosstime Saloon.



“We have laboured long to build a heaven, only to find it populated with horrors.”
― Alan Moore, Watchmen.



“The farther you go, however, the harder it is to return. The world has many edges, and it's easy to fall off.”
― Anderson Cooper.



“After the monkeys came down from the trees and learned to hurl sharp objects, they had had to move into caves for protection--not only from the big predatory cats but, as they began to lose their monkey fur, from the elements. Eventually, they started transposing their hunting fantasies onto cave walls in the form of pictures, first as an attempt at practical magic and later for the strange, unexpected pleasure they discovered in artistic creation.
Time passed. Art came off the walls and turned into ritual. Ritual became religion. Religion spawned science. Science led to big business. And big business, if it continues on its present mindless, voracious trajectory, could land those of us lucky enough to survive its ultimate legacy back into caves again.”
― Tom Robbins, Villa Incognito.



“It would be advisable to think of progress in the crudest, most basic terms: that no one should go hungry anymore, that there should be no more torture, no more Auschwitz. Only then will the idea of progress be free from lies.”
― Theodor W. Adorno

Shaping the Future ~Stephen Wolfram & Ray Kurzweil

Stephen Wolfram, present-day genius, grown from child prodigy. At age 16 he published an article on particle physics, entered Oxford University age 17 and wrote a widely cited paper on heavy quark production at age 17. Wolfram's book "A New Kind of Science" has been highly acclaimed.

Mr Wolfram is currently engaged in the development of "the next big thing" for the internet: Wolfram Alpha, a program which will answer questions. It's reported to be unlike either Google or Wikipedia, which simply provide source information. The new application, due for unveiling in May, will actually provide answers to questions.
Stephen Wolfram's website.

Raymond Kurzweil, inventor, futurist, a pioneer in the fields of optical character recognition, text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and electronic keyboard instruments. He is the author of several books on health, artificial intelligence, transhumanism, the technological singularity, and futurism.

In his book "The Singularity is Near", Kurzweil explores his concept of exponential growth, radical life expansion, and how we will transcend our biology. Wikipedia reports that while being interviewed for a February 2009 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, Kurzweil expressed a desire to construct a genetic copy of his late father, Fredric Kurzweil, from DNA within his grave site. This feat would be achieved by deploying various nanorobots to send samples of DNA back from the grave, constructing a clone of Fredric and retrieving memories and recollections - from Ray's mind - of his father. All very sci-fi indeed!!
Kurzweil Technologies website.

It was an article of Mr. Kurzweil's which discussed and argued with some of Mr. Wolfram's theories put forth in "A New Kind of Science" which led me to compare the natal charts of these two brilliant intellects.

I suspect that these two, if so minded, could between them solve the mystery of astrology (more on this later).

One thing these men have in common: they are both children of Jewish immigrant parents. The Kurzweils escaped to New York from Austria at the start of World War 2. The Wolframs emigrated from Westphalia to England in 1933. I often ponder of why it is that the Jewish race produced and still produces so many brilliant minds. DNA, I guess.

Anyway - the charts! I'm expecting to find Uranus and Saturn closely involved. Aquarius too. Uranus represents all things new and futuristic, technology, cybernetics etc. Saturn relates to the mathematics and disciplined thinking necessary to approach the subjects in which these men specialise. Aquarius is the modern home sign of Uranus, so is quite likely to be highlighted.

Let's see:

Stephen Wolfram born 29 August 1959 in London, UK.
Raymond Kurzweil born 12 February 1948 in Queens, New York.

I'm looking here only for factors relating to the topic at hand, not trying to fully interpret their personalities. The charts are set for 12 noon as no times of birth are available. We can't know the rising signs of the two men, nor the exact degree of the Moon, but there's enough here to suffice.





Stephen Wolfram has no Aquarius, unless from the unknown rising sign, and surprisingly no Air signs emphasised in his chart. What he does have though is Sun conjunct Pluto in Virgo, with Mercury conjunct Uranus in Leo, and Saturn in Capricorn in trine to Sun/Pluto. What does this signify? Sun and Pluto in Virgo - powerful, discerning intellect, incredibly close attention to detail, passion for anything he touches. Mercury conjunct Uranus: an inventive, potentially genius mentality.

Saturn in Capricorn, its own sign, trine Sun/Pluto: provides the structure and discipline to make the rest of this configuration work. Without this crucial harmonious link to Saturn, Mr. Wolfram might have developed into a haphazard genius eccentric who, in the end, achieved nothing.



Raymond Kurzweil's chart is nearer to the simple line-up I expected to see - Sun in Aquarius closely trining Uranus in Gemini. The two mentally oriented signs highlighted with Aquarius's modern ruler closely linked to the Sun. Mercury in mystical creative Pisces gives Mr Kurzweil a rather different mindset from Mr Wolfram's. The trio of planets in Leo, Pluto, Mars and Saturn are opposite Aquarius Sun, providing a balancing act between an inventive Aquarian Sun, the discipline of Saturn, power of Pluto and energy of Mars. Whereas Wolfram's conjunction blends Sun and Pluto, Kurzweil's opposition balances the two symbolic energies.
The same planets are highlighted in both charts in different ways, Pluto, Uranus and Saturn adding their strength to personal planets by aspect.

A couple more points worth noting: Mr.Wolfram currently has a Saturn transit to his Virgo planets, and a Pluto transit to his Capricorn Saturn - is there any wonder he has a new project ready for launching? Mr. Kurzweil had January's lunar eclipse hit his Sun/Saturn opposition; perhaps there'll be some extra interesting times ahead for him this year.

As for how the work of these two brilliant minds might, one day, affect astrology - this article is well worth perusal:
Planet Mandalas and a New Kind of Science:
The Relationship of the work of Stephen Wolfram and
Ray Kurzweil to Cosmic Cybernetic Theory
by David Cochrane