Probably at the forefront of transhumanism today, Ray Kurzweil is someone who thinks sincerely and deeply about the subject. His track record for innovation and understanding of futuristic man-machine systems is proven and yet he can be seen to be a rather tragic figure with rather too much belief in the possibilities of the technology he proposes.
A particularly poignant case in point is his desire to resurrect his father from data gathered about the man who died in 1970 when Ray was a young man. I will be clear that i do not suppose that this idea of Mr Kurzweil's is as crackpot as it seems from some perspectives. I'm sure that a sufficiently large database can be made to synthesise many responses, but that database cannot be party to the most life-changing experiences, the secret and often unspoken ones, that a person will have and possibly never speak of with anyone, much less their own children.
I speak here from the perspective of someone who just recently lost a dearly loved father. I am also very aware of technology and what potential it has but, even with the most incredible power one could imagine, nothing could come close to duplicating my dad even with the most comprehensive data that could be imagined.
My own advice to Mr Kurzweil would be to remain content with the memory of all the intangible and unexplainable aspects of your father because, however well rendered it may be, an avatar in a simulation can never be any more than the palest and most disappointing shadow that will never smell like your dad did when you hugged him.
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