directed by Barry Ptolemy
RAY KURZWEIL has a recurring dream. In it, he is walking through an endless series of empty rooms, unable to find another human being. This is his vision of death, one marked by profound loneliness and exile from human relationships. In , 鈥榮 moving documentary about the futurist, we find that this same loneliness haunts Kurzweil through the spectre of his father, who died from heart disease when Kurzweil was in his twenties.
鈥淚 felt frustrated in that keeping him alive was a goal that slipped through my fingers,鈥� Kurzweil laments. Throughout the film we see that Kurzweil has spent his adult life avenging his father鈥檚 death with attempts to vanquish death itself. 鈥淗ere鈥檚 to living forever,鈥� says Kurzweil鈥檚 wife, Sonya, raising her glass of red wine. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not just a salutation in our family.鈥�
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Whether Kurzweil is a modern-day prophet or a crackpot is a matter of debate, though no one can deny his prolific resum茅 of inventions and his impressive track record for predicting the future of technology. The opinions in the film range from that of MIT鈥檚 (鈥淸Kurzweil] takes things that everyone agrees on and principles for extrapolation that everyone agrees on and makes predictions that no one agrees with.鈥�) to Wired editor Kevin Kelly (鈥淩ay鈥檚 right, but not about the timing.鈥�) to San Francisco Chronicle reporter Tom Abate (鈥淒o we really want old codgers with a lot of money hanging around and mucking up the works?鈥�).
In telling Kurzweil鈥檚 personal story, Transcendent Man also tells the story of humanity鈥檚 future, be it a utopian or dystopian one. Remarkably, the two stories come together as if inextricably linked. Perhaps this isn鈥檛 surprising: Kurzweil鈥檚 preoccupations represent the most basic aspects of the human condition 鈥� existential angst and a fear of death combined with a deep sense of loss. Kurzweil is optimistic that these will melt away in the next two decades when humans merge with machines as the confluence of biotechnology, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence transform our world beyond recognition. His hopefulness is infectious.
Perhaps Kurzweil鈥檚 optimism is of a tragic variety 鈥� but that doesn鈥檛 mean he is wrong.