Edutainment+2029+-+Transcendence

Edutainment 2029 would not be complete without a reflection on //Transcendence//. //Transcendence// is a fanciful tale based loosely on the ideas of Ray Kurzweil, a key contributor to the America 2029 methodology.

One of the critical concepts of //Transcendence// directly opposes Ray Kurzweil's personal beliefs. Kurzweil and his fellow researchers (for example, Peter Diamandis and Dean Kamen) believe that there won't be a unified "artificial intelligence" that humanity will have to contend with. Rather, all humans will be enhanced by "artificial intelligence" in a process more accurately described as "augmented intelligence."

The movie takes all the scientific principles currently under exploration by researchers of "the singularity," an event which is anticipated around the year 2029, and then fantasizes about what might happen. Researchers envision the singularity as a time when the line between humans and machines will be blurred. Such a concept creates fear in some, while offending others. The nightmare presented in the movie //Transcendence// certainly serves as a cautionary tale for singularity researchers.

The word //singularity// comes from physics, as an analogy. It's important to note that, in physics, a singularity is when all the laws of nature break down, for example, at the instant of the Big Bang or in the center of a black hole. With that understanding, we need to prepare ourselves for a time when all the rules that we now know will no longer apply.

The movie directly points to several critical premises of America 2029:
 * The best way to prevent nightmares is by envisioning all possibilities now and then preventing the negative consequences.
 * Whether we like these technologies or not, they are going to happen. We need to deal with them before the bad guys do. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., presciently addressed this issue when speaking of race issues in the 1960s: "I am coming to feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than the people of goodwill."
 * While the possibilities presented in //Transcendence// won't be possible for 100 years, if ever, this kind of brainstorming leads to near-term opportunities by opening our minds to the possibilities.
 * The best way to prepare for a time when all the rules for business and life no longer apply is by slowly replacing old rules with new rules that are more applicable to the world that is currently taking shape.

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