[ExI] BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists

[Lee Corbin]

Amara Angelica writes

> Former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke's BREAKPOINT novel,
> set in the year 2012, is based on emerging technologies. "Globegrid," a
> high-speed global network, links supercomputers worldwide. Combined
> with advanced AI software, it promises to reverse-engineer the brain,
> revolutionize genomics, enable medical breakthroughs, develop advanced
> human-machine interfaces, and allow for genetic alterations and even
> uploading consciousness. But it spurs a terrorist-fundamentalist Luddite
> backlash against transhumanists, as hackers take down the power grid,
> and destroy vital international data and telecom links, communications
> satellites, and biotech firms.  
> 
> Corrected link: 
> http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=/articles/art0703.html 

Well, one item the author mentions

               -- People in the United States will be driving Chinese-manufactured
               cars like the Chery product line in 2007-08.

is certainly off the mark.  It's well to remember that 2012 is as close to us as
2002 was.  I don't expect anything significantly more radical to happen in the
next five years than in the past five.

Lee