ISCID - Are We Spiritual Machines?

Reading Discussion: Are We Spiritual Machines?

On July 19th at 4pm Eastern ISCID hosted a live chat with Ray Kurzweil, Jay Richards, and William Dembski. View the transcript here.

In the month of July 2002 ISCID held an online discussion about the new book "Are We Spiritual Machines?" which considers the revolutionary ideas of Ray Kurzweil's version of strong A.I. Starting July 1st and extending through July 28th, participants were given a reading schedule and had the opportunity to engage several of the book's contributors as well as ISCID fellows in an online discussion forum.

In “Are We Spiritual Machines?” critics of strong artificial intelligence (the view that computers will go fully conscious) square off with one of A.I.’s leading proponents, Ray Kurzweil. Kurzweil says that nonbiological intelligence will soon become indistinguishable from conscious entities such as humans. He explains how we will "reverse engineer" our software (our minds) and "upgrade" our hardware (our bodies) to indefinitely extend human life -- before the dawn of the 22nd century. Kurzweil argues that accelerating growth of computer power will result in machine intelligence exceeding human intelligence early in this century. Nanobots will scan and enable the reverse engineering of our brains, provide 3D immersive virtual realities, and free the human mind from its severe physical limitations as the next step in evolution. Ultimately, humankind will "merge with its computational technology."

View the entire text of "Are We Spiritual Machines" online for free or,
Order the book "Are We Spiritual Machines?" for $10.47

Reading and Discussion Schedule:

Week 1 (July 1-7):

Introduction: Are We Spiritual Machines? The Beginning of a Debate (1-11)
by George Gilder and Jay Richards
Chapter 1: The Evolution of Mind in the Twenty-First Century (12-55)
by Ray Kurzweil
Chapter 10: The Material World: "Is that All There Is?" (210 - End)
by Ray Kurzweil

Week 2 (July 8-14):

Chapter 2: I Married a Computer (56-77)
by John Searle
Chapter 6: Locked in His Chinese Room (128-171)
by Ray Kurzweil

Week 3 (July 15-21):

Chapter 3: Organism and Machine: The Flawed Analogy (78-97)
by Michael Denton
Chapter 7: Applying Organic Design Principles to Machines Is Not an Analogy But a Sound Strategy (172-183)
by Ray Kurzweil
Chapter 4: Kurzweil's Impoverished Spirituality (98-115)
by William Dembski
Chapter 8: Dembski's Outdated Understanding (184-195)
by Ray Kurzweil