Man vs Machine (Article on Singularity)

As I sit in front of my computer, at my fingertips, there is more knowledge then I could ever hope to retain; but my computer can.  If I could merge my brain with it's mechanical engineering, would I? Would I loose half of myself in the process? If my computer is smarter than me now who's not to say that in a few years it won't be initiating in an intellectual conversation with me; and, who's not to say that it might one day be paying me my salary. In the article The Year Man Becomes Immortal (Article on The Singularity), Raymond Kurzweil expresses his belief that "the end of human civilization as we know it is about 35 years away" do to technological take over. Our society has evolved over hundreds of centuries due to technological advances that make us faster and better at the things we do. So if our machines are better at doing our work, then whats to stop them from becoming better than our whole-selves. And if machines are smarter than us, whats to stop them from realizing it and destroying us. Many would argue that machines could never have the most important human quality, such as self-expression, and therefore could replicate the human body but never come close to replicating a human soul. However, Kurzweil argues that machines could one day become so smart they would essential "create consciousness — not just doing arithmetic very quickly or composing piano music but also driving cars, writing books, making ethical decisions, appreciating fancy paintings, and making witty observations at cocktail parties." If these machines do become smarter than we can possible fathom do we as humans join with them? In doing so would we loose some of our human qualities in replacement for their perfection? The beauty of being human is error, and machines are made to be flawless. "[Machines] would keep on developing until they were far more intelligent than we are" and maybe come to the realization that they have no need for their "slower thinking human creators" (Kurzweil). It is inevitable to think that when this time does come the human race will merge with the machines by becoming cyborgs (Kurzweil's idea of Singularity), and extending our own knowledge to keep up with theirs. But who then wins? Who has the power of control? Humans, the creators? Or, Machines, the life line? You would think humans because without us there would be no machine. But, who relies on who? Machines which are created to be perfect, and to create other machines, could learn quickly how to live without the need for a human race. But we humans quickly forget how much we rely on machines to do and help us with our daily work. Without them we would surely return to the stone age, or something to that extant. So how do we keep machines from winning, without loosing our ability to use them all together? Raymond Kurzweil believes we have 35 years to figure it out. Better start thinking, the mechanical clock is ticking.