He says the exponential incline of our technology will get extremely steep pretty soon, altering our lives more quickly than any other generation in the history of the world.

That certainly is exciting. Only recently have I finally gotten used to using a computer on multiple monitors, like dragging a movie I want to watch from my laptop over to a TV screen. This other stuff? Just mindblowing. We are definitely living in the future, or at least what has been depicted in futuristic films.

Kurzweil is a big proponent of nanotechnology and transhumanism, which is basically the merging of humans and machines. He sees it gaining traction in the near future as technology becomes smaller and more powerful. Imagine artificial materials inside a human body able to stop — and reverse — the process of aging. Kurzweil can.

Using technology to replace the deficiencies in our bodies, natural or unnatural, is something he predicts will soon become commonplace. Tiny molecular nano-bots will merge with the biology of our bodies to not only enhance our health but our mental capacity as well.

Kurzweil and numerous other scientists foresee the day when humans have electronics implanted into their bodies to increase their intelligence. People will have a database of information at their disposal. It’s like Google being downloaded by your brain. The line between humans and machines will blur as we begin incorporating more technology with ourselves.

Too bad George Lucas thought of this over 30 years ago with “Star Wars.” It sounds like we might become a world of Darth Vaders. My only worry is I’m going to go in looking like Hayden Christensen and come out looking like the old, withered, pale potato-of-a-man Anakin becomes when he takes off the mask in “Return of the Jedi.” I just want to be Han Solo.

Reversing the process of aging will undoubtedly become something atheists eagerly pursue. I’m sure the prospect of immortality on Earth is comforting to the minority who don’t believe in life after death. It will probably be a religion in itself.

This is a difficult, yet thrilling subject to talk about. Although living beyond 100 is almost unthinkable, our technological advances are undeniable.