PBS Newshour | Optimists at Silicon Valley thinktank Singularity University are pushing the frontiers of human progress through innovation and emerging technologies, looking to greater longevity and better health. As part of his series on “Making Sense” of financial news, Paul Solman explores a future of “exponential growth.”

Paul Solman: Admittedly, solar now provides less than 1 percent of U.S. energy needs. But Singularity University’s other cofounder, Ray Kurzweil, whom we interviewed by something called Teleportec, says the public is pointlessly pessimistic.

Ray Kurzweil, Chancellor, Singularity University: And I think the major reason that people are pessimistic is they don’t realize that these technologies are growing exponentially.

For example, solar energy is doubling every two years. It’s now only seven doublings from meeting 100 percent of the world’s energy needs, and we have 10,000 times more sunlight than we need to do that. […]