[tempestn]

Great thoughts (in this and your other comments here). I have to think that for better or worse, even if human lifespans are drastically increased, it is inevitable that we will reasonably quickly reach the point where computers essentially know more than we do. 500 years might give us time to climb a much higher ladder of knowledge, but computers don't have to climb it at all; they will all have access to all the knowledge, effectively immediately. Also, a computer will have access to extreme depth and breadth of knowledge, which would be impossible for a human, and which could lead to all kinds of cross-discipline breakthroughs.

Of course there's also the middle ground option, where the clear distinction between human and computer becomes blurred, and eventually meaningless.

[tempestn]

On the other hand, there are physical limits to computing power. Computers will always be able to solve simple problems faster, but I suppose it isn't a given that they will be able to solve complicated problems better, than humans. (This other article on the homepage got me thinking about this more: http://www.scottaaronson.com/writings/bignumbers.html)