Gaia: The Singularity - WTF is the Singularity?

Re: Singularity News

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 14:01:59 GMT

sweet! thanks for posting this. feel free to post some more :)

Singularity News

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 05:53:01 GMT

Crossposted for my blog, Deepsurface.net

On Friday, Reuters published this article: Paralyzed Man Uses Thoughts to Move a Cursor.

When the device was to be used, technicians plugged a cable connected to a computer into the pedestal. So Mr. Nagle was directly wired to a computer, somewhat like a character in the “Matrix” movies.

And the most recent episode of Studio 360 explored various ways the line blurs between computer entertainment and reality. It covers a range of topics, from an artist who makes a living from hacked 80’s video games to an interview with Richard Linklater. He directed A Scanner Darkly, yet another movie from a Phillip K. Dick about what makes us human. These segments focus attention on the various ways computers define us as a society and as individuals.

Yesterday, Ray Kurtzweil was on Talk of the Nation discussing an opinion piece he wrote for the Philadelphia Enquirer. He writes:

A key point to keep in mind as we contemplate the future: The pace of change is accelerating.

And that means our power to expand the boundaries of human knowledge and accomplishment is accelerating, too.

That the pace of change is accelerating may seem obvious, but most people fail to take it into consideration. According to my models, we are doubling the “paradigm-shift rate” (roughly the rate of technical progress) every decade, so we’ll see twice the change in the next decade that we saw in the last, four times the change in the next 20 years that we saw in the last 20, and so on.

The power of information technology is doubling even faster: in less than one year. This means that information technology, as measured by price performance and capacity, will multiply by 1,000 in less than a decade and 1 billion in 25 years. At the same time, we are shrinking the size of technology by a 100 (per 3-D volume) each decade, so the key features of our technology will be 100,000 times smaller in 25 years. That means the equivalent of your iPod nano will be smaller than a human hair. (read the rest)

And finally, today I woke up to a Morning Edition segment describing new technological tools being tested by soldiers. “The army is considering new battle gear that loads the grunts up with 17 pounds of electronic gadgets… There’s really no other way to put this. The soldiers that have been outfitted with the new gear look like the borg- All just moving parts of a battle-field computer network.”

I’m still working through Kurzweil’s The Singularity is Near, but I’m already convinced that humanity is in the middle of a massive shift toward a time when “humans transcend biology”, that book’s sub-title. I have become a Singulatarian.

So what is the Singularity?

Sometime in the next few years or decades, humanity will become capable of surpassing the upper limit on intelligence that has held since the rise of the human species. We will become capable of technologically creating smarter-than-human intelligence, perhaps through enhancement of the human brain, direct links between computers and the brain, or Artificial Intelligence. This event is called the “Singularity” by analogy with the singularity at the center of a black hole - just as our current model of physics breaks down when it attempts to describe the center of a black hole, our model of the future breaks down once the future contains smarter-than-human minds. Since technology is the product of cognition, the Singularity is an effect that snowballs once it occurs - the first smart minds can create smarter minds, and smarter minds can produce still smarter minds. - from the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence

For more, listen to this archive Science Friday interview with Kurzweil from last year and check out KurzweilAI.net for the latest developments and discussions related to “accelerating intelligence.”

[Edit: 6.22.06] ~C4 posts a related link: Surfing the Web with nothing but brainwaves. It looks like things are happening faster than I thought.

…So if improved hardware is all it takes to speed up the device, Cyberkinetics’ chip could be able to process thoughts as fast as speech - 110 to 170 words per minute - by 2012. Imagine issuing commands to a computer as quickly as you could talk. (read the whole article)

The Singularity is Near @ Ma.gnolia

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Wed, 17 May 2006 06:16:24 GMT

For those using the kick ass social bookmarking service called Ma.gnolia, I also created a group.

The Singularity is Near

This is a public group.

all about The coming Singularity as evangelized by Ray Kurzweil and others...

Feel free to join the group and keep adding and tagging relevant stuff with "singularity."

That is all.

Re: BoingBoing entry on the Singularity Summit at Stanford

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Tue, 02 May 2006 18:05:49 GMT

"I took The Singularity is Near with me and introduced my family to the concept about a week ago. Interesting conversation result when people actually want to think about this stuff. It was a good visit."

exactly. too bad it has yet to happen on this pod since only a few of us care, or are willing, to discuss this very important matters.

Re: BoingBoing entry on the Singularity Summit at Stanford

Tue, 02 May 2006 06:04:21 GMT

Thanks Bill,

My brother has been talking about Gödel, Escher, Bach for several years because it stimulated him intelectually. Initially he just blew off the Singularity, but after see that Ray Kurzweil will be speaking along-side Hofstadter, he might take it a little more seriously.

I took The Singularity is Near with me and introduced my family to the concept about a week ago. Interesting conversation result when people actually want to think about this stuff. It was a good visit.

Re: BoingBoing entry on the Singularity Summit at Stanford

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Sat, 29 Apr 2006 18:49:36 GMT

those Boing Boing folks are avant-gardes on technology stuff. thanks for the links!

Another BoingBoing Singularity post today - Vernor Vinge

http://telesterion.gaia.com — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 22:07:18 GMT

"We talk to him about the Singularity -- and how it may come from the superhuman "ensemble behavior" of ordinary humans with powerful computers linked via the Internet rather than through the development of superhuman artificial intelligence -- about signposts indicating how we're doing, about humanity's prospects for utopia or extinction, and related minor issues. "

http://www.boingboing.net/2006/04/27/glenn_instapundit_re.html

BoingBoing entry on the Singularity Summit at Stanford

http://telesterion.gaia.com — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 21:58:48 GMT

Speakers include

- Ray Kurzweil, inventor, futurist, author of "The Singularity Is Near"
- Douglas Hofstadter, cognitive scientist, author of "Gödel, Escher, Bach"
- K. Eric Drexler, nanotechnology pioneer, author of "Engines of Creation"
- Nick Bostrom, director of the Oxford Future of Humanity Institute
- BoingBoing's own Cory Doctorow

and many more.

http://www.boingboing.net/2006/04/28/singularity_conferen.html

Chapter 1: Singularity (for FREE)

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 08:30:23 GMT

Here's a PDF of Chapter 1 of The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil. Check it out if you still don't have the book. In this chapter, Ray gave an overview of the SIx Epochs:

Epoch One: Physics and Chemistry
Epoch Two: Biology and DNA
Epoch Three: Brains
Epoch Four: Technology
Epoch Five: The Merger of Human Technology with Human Intelligence
Epoch Six: The Universe Wakes Up

whoah on Epoch Six!

Singularity Summit at Stanford

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 07:34:23 GMT

For those of you who live near Stanford U, on May 13, 2006 (9am-5pm) there is an upcoming Singularity Summit at Stanford which is open for free to the public. Check it out then give us the scoop! :)

THE SINGULARITY SUMMIT AT STANFORD

The Symbolic Systems Program and CSLI are pleased to host the Singularity Summit at Stanford, a rare gathering of thinkers to explore the rising impact of science and technology on society. The summit has been organized to further the understanding of a controversial idea – the singularity scenario.

WHAT IS THE SINGULARITY?

For over a hundred thousand years, the evolved human brain has held a privileged place in the expanse of cognition. Within this century, science may move humanity beyond its boundary of intelligence. This possibility, the singularity, may be a critical event in history, and deserves thoughtful consideration. More

With his new book, The Singularity Is Near, Ray Kurzweil has taken all the strands of the singularity meme circulating in the last decades and has united them into a single tome which he has nailed on our front door. I suspect this will be one of the most cited books of the decade. Like Paul Ehrlich's upsetting 1972 book Population Bomb, fan or foe, it's the wave at the epicenter you have to start with.

— Kevin Kelly
Senior Maverick, Wired

Singularity Rabbit Holes

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 20:55:34 GMT

here's a shout-out to the Singularity rabbit holes! w00t!

www.singularity.com

www.kurweilAI.net

Keep adding your groovy finds!

Books on the Singularity

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 20:53:47 GMT

Ray Kurzweil: The Singularity Is Near : When Humans Transcend Biology

Andy Clark: Natural-Born Cyborgs: Minds, Technologies, and the Future of Human Intelligence
very exciting journey into the possibilities that lie on the “exteriors.”

Ken Wilber: Boomeritis : A Novel That Will Set You Free
no Michael Crichton, but works as a post-modern novel.

The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence by Ray Kurzweil (Paperback - Jan 1, 2000)

Now it's your turn to add your favorite Singularity-related books.