I believe that both Joy and Kurzweil have relevant concerns and hopes concerning our future and technology. Like before, I believe that these men are much to extreme in their predictions. Yes, microscopic technology capable of completing nigh impossible medical procedures would be a wonderful thing to have in the future, but it might not be as close as Kurzweil predicts it will be. And while we may not be living in a scifi-filmesque world soon, this may not mean that technology is going to kill us either. The fact that Joy pulls in the Borg from Star-Trek also makes me question his believes. Since the beginning of humankind’s obsession with technology, there have been polar opposites in beliefs. In class we discussed how people thought that television could dramatically help people by educating them or delivering information instantly, others thought it would make everyone zombies who just sat in front of the box for hours. As it turns out, it’s been a little of both, except nothing as dramatic. Yes, there are benefits, and yes there are downfalls, but either way, it has been incorporated into our culture pretty smoothly. It’s just something that’s become apart of us, and while some people focus on it more than others, it hasn’t really harmed or bettered our society. And honestly, I believe the same is going to happen with our future. Look how fast the internet has assimilated into our lives. It’s not killing us or helping us all that much, there aren’t that many extreme jumps in technology that has entered our lives. I believe that Moore’s law is quite plausible, but it reflects the human race’s obsession with money. As far as technology has advanced, people have focused their efforts to provide more products for consumers. Even medical corporations are now focusing on create new forms of treatment, but not cures. A company can make much more money providing pills to keep people alive, but a pill that can cure will not make much money. This may be the same with futurism. Technology will advance greatly, but we’re going to be kept in a middle ground because companies will never allow the public to have the most advanced appliances, we’ll always be kept wanting the next best thing, and because of this, our lives are going to continue the way it has been for forever. I truly believe that the future will remain more or less the same, our possessions will just be more advanced. Life will go on. And I really don’t believe that we’ll ever get to cheat death, and even if we did, I’m sure enough political problems will arise, and human rights activists and religious zealots will have it shut down one way or another.