When Ray Kurzweil was a child he tried to invent a homework machine: He didn't accept that he had to waste time doing his dumb school assignments. Half a century on, nothing much has changed, though the authority Kurzweil challenges has got loftier: Now, says the American futurist and inventor, he doesn't accept that life ends with death.
At age 63, it's not surprising that he needs to dye his hair to conceal the gray, but he has far more ambitious plans to cheat the passage of time.
I met Kurzweil while he was in London last month to promote the release of a film about him and his life, the immodestly titled "Transcendent Man." With its tagline that could equally well be applied to this column — "Prepare to evolve" — I wanted to see what the film, and Kurzweil, had to say.