Have you heard of the Singularity, popularized by Ray Kurzweil, in which nanotechnology bonds with our biology and we all become transcendant super-beings who never die? It’s a dubious possibility, though Kurzweil theory has inspired a whole school specifically dedicated to making his dream a reality. But it’s just not soon enough for some people, and so Wired magazine introduces us to Lepht Anonym of Berlin.
Anonym is a biohacker, a woman who has spent the last several years learning how to extend her own senses by putting tiny magnets and other electronic devices under her own skin, allowing her to feel electromagnetic fields, or — if her latest project works — even magnetic north.
And that’s not the important, stomach-churning part…
Since doctors won’t help her, she does it in her own apartment, sterilizing her equipment (needles, scalpels, vegetable peelers) with vodka. Good anesthetic is largely impossible to buy, so she screams a little, and sometimes passes out. But it’s worth it, for what’s on the other side.
The article is not for the faint of heart.
Hat tip to The Dish.
That’s not really the definition of the Singularity. The real wording is much less amazing…
I have to read this article, though – sound awesome!
In the interest of being more specific, here’s the For Dummies version from a Vice interview of Kurzweil…
http://www.viceland.com/int/v16n4/htdocs/r…
That article was fascinating – but the comments below it were mostly horrible.
A well-meaning friend got me Kurzweil’s Singularity book awhile back. Kurzweil is kind of an annoying, misinformed prick. He has an odd contempt for natural systems and human biology (must have had a rough go with the ladies). Several scientists have lampooned his sloppy grasp of biology. I knew he was full of shit when he tried to fold quantum physics into his techno-fascist fantasies and screwed up basic freshman concepts.
For a real, informed nerd, I suggest Michio Kaku’s ‘Visions’.
@Night Moves: That sounds like one of us having an odd contempt for blog comments.
I thought his book was a nice piece of speculative sci-fi. It’s nothing at all like those “What The Bleep Do We Know” dingbats.
The man also was an innovator in the field of audio design/synthesis, not to mention the Kurzweil reading machine — I actually saw a busted one at a Vancouver thrift store four or five years ago.
AnonymOUCH!
This should be added to the “In and Out” List on Lovelab: Kurt Weill or Kurzweil