In preperation of our What Technology Wants Future Salon this Friday I send Keven Kelly three questions:
1) Why did you call your book What Technology Wants and not What Biology Wants. Isn't technology an extension of biology?
Kevin Kelly: Yes, the technium is an extension of the natural world, but people are far more concerned about where technology is going than where biology has come from.
2) Is the Technium hurling the human race towards a singularity?
Kevin Kelly: No, there is no end point to evolution, no omega point. There are transitions in our journey that may be unimaginable, or even inherently unforseable beforehand, but those transitions are only visible in retrospect. We cannot look ahead and say there is a singularity coming; we can only look behind and say it has already happened.
3) Technology as extension of biology therefore extension of biology goodness. Isn't technology an extension of man, and therefore has all our potential for both good and bad?
Kevin Kelly: Yes, the technium contains all the good and bad found in man. So does any world built on free will. But any system with free will is not neutral but a good itself. (Life is not neutral; mind is not neural.) The very choice to make a choice is a positive good.
This will be a really interesting Future Salon with Kevin Kelly this Friday. He promised to leave a lot of time for questions from the diverse Future Salon audience. Can't wait.
Future Salons have the following structure: 6-7pm is networking with light refreshments proudly sponsored by SAP; 7-9+pm presentation and dialog. Please RSVP http://bit.ly/fH7GWW
SAP Labs North America, Building 1, Room: Southern Cross or cafeteria. SAP is located at 3410 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304[map]. Free and open to the public.
If you can't join in person, please join the webcast and online discussion at https://sap.na.pgiconnect.com/fs/ (We will relay your online questions to the speaker.)