We appear to be programmed with the idea that there are 'things' outside of our self, and some are conscious, and some are not.

He has received nineteen honorary doctorates and honors from three U. [citation needed]
Kurzweil received the 1999 National Medal of Technology and Innovation America’s highest honor in technology from President Clinton in a White House ceremony.

Kurzweil's book The Singularity Is Near was a New York Times bestseller and has been the #1 book on Amazon in both science and philosophy. His latest bestseller is How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed. Kurzweil is generally recognized as a public advocate for the futurist and transhumanist movements due to his stances on life extension technologies his efforts to forecast future advances in technology and his interest in the concept of the technological singularity.