American Public Media Marketplace | Ray Kurzweil on the surprising simplicity of the human brain

April 5, 2013

American Public Media Marketplace — April 5, 2013 | David Brancaccio

This is a summary. Read original article in full here.

The federal government wants to spend $100 million to unravel the complex of the human brain. But there’s someone else who’s been thinking a lot about the brain: The legendary inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil.

Kurzweil has done pioneering work in optical character readers, flatbed scanners, electronic keyboards for musicians, and beyond. He has thought a lot about the ways technology and human beings are becoming more intertwined — and the future of that connection.

Kurzweil, who holds The National Medal of Technology and Innovation and is director of engineering at Google, joined Marketplace Tech host David Brancaccio to talk about his latest book, How to Create A Mind, and an irony of the human mind: While the brain’s work is complex, it’s based on simple components. […]