Hello readers,
Today I want to share something interesting I read on an English website and what I think about it.
Kurzweil’s Prediction About Living Forever
I was reading Nikkei Asia and found an interview with Ray Kurzweil. He is a computer scientist. He is famous because he says AI will become smarter than humans by 2045.
Here is what he talked about:
People have something called “life expectancy.” This means the average age when people die. Every year, life expectancy gets longer. People are living longer and longer these days.
But here is the interesting part: the speed of this change is getting faster too.
Right now, we age at one year per year. That never changes. But life expectancy is moving away from us faster and faster.
Kurzweil thinks something amazing might happen. Life expectancy might move away faster than one year per year. If this happens, we could never catch up to it. This means people might live forever. Kurzweil calls this a “singularity.”
My Two Concerns
I have two problems with this idea.
First problem: This “forever life” will not be for everyone. Life expectancy means half of people die before this age, and half live longer. So even if some people live forever, many others will still die young. Only some people – maybe rich people or lucky people – will get to live forever.
Second problem: Living longer does not mean you cannot die from other things. Wars, accidents, crimes, and natural disasters can still kill people. Kurzweil’s idea only works if the world becomes very safe and peaceful. But that might not happen. Human history shows us that the world can become more dangerous, not less dangerous.
A Story About Death
I found a good story in an Italian book by Italo Calvino. The book is called “Italian Folktales.”
In the story, a man visits a land where no one dies. But he misses his family, so he decides to go home. There is one rule: he must never get off his horse. If he gets off, he will die.
On his way home, he meets a stranger. The stranger’s cart is stuck in mud.
“Please help me,” says the stranger. “I am alone and it is getting dark.”
The man feels sorry for the stranger. He puts one foot on the ground to help, but keeps the other foot on his horse.
Immediately, the stranger grabs his hand. “I got you at last!” says the stranger. “Do you know who I am? I am Death. Now you belong to me.”
What This Story Means
I think this story teaches us something important. Even people who think they can live forever can still meet Death. Death is always waiting.
Learning Languages Opens Our Minds
Reading this English article and this Italian story made me think deeply about life and death. This shows me again why learning foreign languages is so valuable. They give us new ideas and new ways to think.
This reminds me of a famous saying: “Live as if you die tomorrow. Learn as if you live forever.”
But now I want to change it a little: “Learn because you may have to live forever!”
What do you think about these ideas? I would love to hear your thoughts.
私立学校に英語教師として勤務中、40代半ばに差し掛かったころ、荒れたクラスを立て直す策として、生徒に公言して英検1級に挑戦することを思い立つ。同様の挑戦を繰り返し、退職までに英検一級（検定連合会長賞）、TOEIC満点、国連英検SA級、フランス語一級、スペイン語一級（文科大臣賞）、ドイツ語一級、放送大学大学院修士号などの成果を得る。
アメリカで生徒への対応法を学ぶ為に研修（地銀の助成金）。最新の心理学に触れた。4都県での全発表、勤務校での教員への研修を英語で行う。現在も特別選抜クラスの授業を全て英語で行っている。「どうやって単語を覚えればいいですか？」という良くある質問に答える為、印欧祖語からの派生に基づく「生徒には見せたくない語源英単語集」を執筆中。完成間近。常日頃洋書の読破で様々な思考にふれているが、そうして得た発想の一つを生かして書いた論文がコロナ対策論文として最近入賞。賞品の牛肉に舌鼓をうっている。元英検面接委員