"We are beginning to see intimations of this in the implantation of computer devices into the human body"
About this Quote
Kurzweil’s phrasing is doing that classic futurist two-step: make the extraordinary sound inevitable, then make inevitability sound benign. “Beginning to see intimations” is almost comically soft-focus language for something as invasive (literally) as putting computers inside people. The diction isn’t just cautious; it’s strategically calming. “Intimations” suggests a gentle foreshadowing, not a radical redesign of what counts as a human body. “Devices” sounds like consumer tech, not hardware that can blur the line between medical necessity, enhancement, and surveillance.
The specific intent is to normalize the trajectory Kurzweil has long argued for: a steady convergence of biology and computation. By framing implantation as something we’re already “beginning” to witness, he reduces the psychological distance between the present and the transhuman future he’s selling. It’s less manifesto than ramp. You’re meant to feel like you’ve already stepped onto it.
The subtext: don’t argue about whether this should happen; notice that it is happening. That subtle shift from ethics to momentum is where his rhetoric gains leverage. Once a development is cast as a visible trend, resistance starts to look like denial or technophobia rather than a legitimate moral stance.
Context matters here: early pacemakers, cochlear implants, insulin pumps, deep brain stimulators, and newer neural interface efforts all function as proof points. Kurzweil collapses therapy and enhancement into one continuous story, betting that life-saving medical tech will quietly acclimate us to elective augmentation. The line reads like a forecast, but it’s also a sales pitch for a worldview where the body becomes a platform - and “upgrade” becomes the default moral language.
The specific intent is to normalize the trajectory Kurzweil has long argued for: a steady convergence of biology and computation. By framing implantation as something we’re already “beginning” to witness, he reduces the psychological distance between the present and the transhuman future he’s selling. It’s less manifesto than ramp. You’re meant to feel like you’ve already stepped onto it.
The subtext: don’t argue about whether this should happen; notice that it is happening. That subtle shift from ethics to momentum is where his rhetoric gains leverage. Once a development is cast as a visible trend, resistance starts to look like denial or technophobia rather than a legitimate moral stance.
Context matters here: early pacemakers, cochlear implants, insulin pumps, deep brain stimulators, and newer neural interface efforts all function as proof points. Kurzweil collapses therapy and enhancement into one continuous story, betting that life-saving medical tech will quietly acclimate us to elective augmentation. The line reads like a forecast, but it’s also a sales pitch for a worldview where the body becomes a platform - and “upgrade” becomes the default moral language.
Quote Details
| Topic | Technology |
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