[ExI] The "Transcendent Man Live" presentation, and where it succeeded and failed

[John Grigg]

I had only done a cursory glance at the "Transcendent Man Live" advertising
(by Kurzweil and also Fathom) when I went to see it.  At the box office, I
was told the ticket price was $15.00.  I was offended that something I had
already seen online (the Transcendent Man documentary) was so expensive
(rising movie ticket prices is a big pet peeve of mine).  I had thought the
August 3rd presentation was the documentary with maybe 15-30 minutes of
live panel talk tacked on at the end.  And so I turned around and went home.

But when I went onto FB and read postings by friends, I realized my mistake!
lol  And unfortunately, it seems that attendance rates were dismally low
across the nation.  I tend to think the advertising which had the
words "Transcendent Man" in large print, confused not just me, but many
people, into making them think the live show was essentially the
documentary! Argh!!!

Alex Lightman did a review of the show on his FB page, that gave it a
positive, but somewhat mixed report.  He was very impressed by Kurzweil and
Kamen (especially Kamen's inventions that could solve the third world's
terrible need for clean water and energy), but felt Wozniak was out of date
with current tech, and that Kaku (despite in some ways doing
quite well) sounded like he was quoting from his "Physics from the Future"
book.  Kaku was actually corrected by Kurzweil about the second law of
thermodynamics, and later revealed himself to have a simplistic and
inaccurate view of the science behind longevity research.  Lightman also
felt that Tam Le, Quincy Jones, and also the panel host were all out
of their league there, and that Deepak Chopra was a gloom and doomer who
wanted to be the center of attention, and should have had his sound
connection turned off...

I realize this event will in time be available on DVD (I've heard that it
will be out within a mere thirty days), but I wish I had gotten to see it on
the big screen, and with other people who enjoy the same things I do.  I
asked the theater manager how many tickets had been sold for it, and he told
me thirty.  I wonder if anyone there was someone I would have known...
Damn!  Anyway, I hope every five or ten years that Kurzweil does an event
like this one.  It would be a cool way for him to explain/expound on how his
predictions are coming along.


John Grigg
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