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PARTISAN REVIEW
technology is growing, we definitely have stronger anti–
technology voices . We also see much more strength of technology,
because its economic and social impact is growing. I think technology is
a double-edged sword. There are unintended consequences.
It
amplifies
our powers, both creative and destructive. I think for someone who sup–
ports ongoing technological progress, it's important to be mindful of
some growing dangers. Some of these are quite grave, as we saw on Sep–
tember
11.
There are other trends that can mitigate these problems, such
as decentralization. The Internet is a relatively safe place to be, whereas
congregating people in buildings, airplanes, and cities is less safe. But
both of these movements are growing as the power of technology grows
and as, in fact, the promise and the peril of technology grows.
Jules Olitski:
You've described extraordinary things .
It
advances our
world. I don't understand a lot of the technology, but I understand that
it will make us live longer, live better. I am fascinated by the live
machines.
If
you took all these good things that are likely from what
you say will happen and you install them-trillions of bytes of good
things-into, let's say, Chuck Close, would he paint a better picture?
Gerald Weissmann:
First of all, I am thrilled to be asked a question by
a painter I've greatly admired for a long time. Secondly, Pollock was on
the sauce, Baudelaire thought he wrote better on hashish, Huxley on
mescaline, Mailer on pot-you don't need the new biotechnology to rev
up your performance. I don't think that biotechnology could possibly be
used to project aesthetic va lues or judgments into other human beings.
Nor would anyone I know want to do this.
Ray Kurzweil:
I think the answer is yes-arts, creativity, emotional intel–
ligence are at the cutting edge of human intelligence. When we talk
about replicating human intelligence, we are not just talking about ana–
lytical thinking and logical deduction; machines are pretty good at that
already. The most complex thing we do, the most advanced thing we do,
is emotional intelligence, creativity, intuition. These are subtle qualities,
but they do stem from the human brain and from the interaction of our
brain with accumulating human knowledge. We will master these things
and be able to amplify them when we understand the principles of oper–
ation of the brain. Some people have said, "Inherently, we are intelli–
gent, but we're below the threshold where we are intelligent enough to
understand our own intelligence." But as this process moves forward, as
we really understand ourselves, we are realizing that's not the case. We
