# The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil

3 Hacker News commenters recommended The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Readers recommend it for Kurzweil's computing predictions, which they found accurate. The common caveat is that his biology and longevity forecasts seem well off.

## Why people recommend it

- Accurate predictions about computing (2 comments): "He's had solid predictions around computing, but for biology (and longevity) he seems to be way off." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50060922)) "If you really want your mind blown look at how accurate Ray Kurzweil was" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50059565))
- Formative read for early readers (1 comments): "I was so into it 26-27 years ago." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47030490))

## What people warn about

- Biology and longevity predictions seem wrong (1 comments): "He's had solid predictions around computing, but for biology (and longevity) he seems to be way off." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50060922))
- Many predictions judged awful (1 comments): "Seems like Kurzweil's has a huge number of awful predictions." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50061570))
- Blamed for spreading AI hype (1 comments): "Ray Kurzweil and his "Age of Spiritual Machines", which I read in 1999, is much more to blame than the others" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45816382))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cuckoo-s-egg.md): 40 recommend
- [Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amusing-ourselves-to-death.md): 36 recommend
- [The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/anxious-generation.md): 24 recommend
- [Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bullshit-jobs.md): 20 recommend
- [Enshittification by Cory Doctorow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enshittification.md): 19 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140282025?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780140282023) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil", https://hackerapproved.com/p/age-of-spiritual-machines/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).