Augmented Intelligence
The ability to provide biotechnology which can enable the human mind to process quicker and more powerfully than it is naturally able to is the premise of augmented intelligence. This is done through devices and treatments which enable the mind to make more neuron connections and process information more efficiently. Lawton states that technology enables us to have "limitless power over our own biology - the power to end disease, abolish pain and suffering, endow ourselves with superhuman levels of beauty, athleticism and brains" (Lawton).
While he highlights many of the benefits that this new biotechnology can bring, Lawton also acknowledges the fears of some critics that our humanity is being sacrificed. "If the prospect of a world full of youthful centenarians, drugged up to the eyeballs, bristling with brain implants and possessed of the power to engineer the genetic future of our species makes you feel vaguely uneasy, you're not alone" (Lawton). The power to overclock our brain may sound tempting, but it is important to keep in mind the social consequences as Kurzweil originally warned us.