All futurists have a level of bullshit versus brilliance that is essential to predict where things will be any point in the future past next Tuesday. My problem with this book is the areas that I have a background in are mishandled which makes me question everything else. The two examples are his references to chaos and nonlinear dynamics where he makes claims that we will further be able to model and use systems with chaotic characteristics. Now maybe the systems he is discussing are more on par with the solar system where it is an unstable system but only when viewed over hundreds of millions of years (give or take an order of magnitude) or like the weather where the forecast past next week is still worth about as much as the paper it's printed.

The second issue is the handling of the Precautionary Principle. Kurzweil makes it out to be a bad, Luddite-ish idea (His belittlement of the Luddites is another issue but I am keeping this short) without ever defining what it is. See thalidomide or commercial uses of lead for why verifying something's safety before widespread implementation is a good idea. In short the bullshit level is high and the brilliance lacking.