[Dane S]

Sure, but how do you know what it's heading towards? The paradigm shifts change the way humans view everything right? I'm talking more about the larger shifts like automobiles, PCs, internet than vacuum tubes and transistors. I don't see how anyone would be able to make predictions considering the massive unpredictable effects of these shifts. Sure growth can continue (unless something unforeseen stops it) but who the hell can say what direction we will "grow" in? In 100 years perhaps primitivism will be all the rage and "growth" will mean reorganizing human society to resemble pre-Columbus America. See what I'm saying? It seems like Kurzweil is prejudiced towards some kind of technoutopia being the ultimate destination but I see no reason why this should be the case over an infinite number of alternative scenarios.

Could Kurzweil's fallacy be assigning a goal to all evolution when really it's about adaptation, not progress in any particular direction? Seems like a very religious viewpoint actually the more I think about it.