The Singularity, good or bad thing?

The technological singularity is simply the expression of humanities intense desire to become something more, to escape the human condition. As the man in the video said, humans are capable of pondering the infinite, but we reside in constantly decaying bodies. The technological singularity is the expression of humanity wanting to leave behind our bodies and to ascend to another plane of existence. A plane where thought is no longer bound to flesh, where we are no longer subject to the limitations of physical existence.

I have no idea about the science you ask about, but it strikes me that The Singularity might be a great corporate name for a law firm that handles Divorces.

What if the technological “haves” integrate silicon into their brains to keep up?

The “have nots” will end up as worker bees for the more advanced beings.

Good, bad, the singularity is the one with the gun. BOOM!
But seriously I’m not really sure how we stop the singularity at this point besides nuking technology and living like the Amish. It’s bound to happen. We need to take steps to make sure it ends up being good.
@rocketguy the havenots will catch up within a few technological generations as the technology becomes cheaper. Illiterate farmers in India have cellphones now.

Great answers, everyone. Keep them coming.

I don’t believe that the singularity will ever happen.

@Rarebear because ray kurzweil is a balls out lunatic? Because every once in a while lunatics get thing right.

One must of necessity re-brand and hype the old to make it appear as new.

As @ETpro is usually quick to point out, The idea is already expounded upon , by the ancient cave dwellling, sheep herding nomads, whose writing he has condemned to the bins of ignorance.

One thing that can be declare with absolute certainty, is that any who set themselves upon the journey to know and understand singularity to the end of achieving it and hold in condemnation these writings. These are on a path where the hype of their arrogance shall cause them to soar high merely to fall flat on their faces in shame of their own ignorance.

Nevertheless despite and because of them many will achieve what they see merely as a fantastic unrealistic dream. Because Singularity is what it is and it is the culmination of all knowledge into the singular consciousness of I AM, that need no other clarification nor further definition than “THAT I AM”.

And to those who achieved , there is nothing done that he cannot do and will do many things that are not even presently conceptualised as a dream. To these walking on water, moving mountains, parting the seas, would be undertaking considered as too petty to be pursued as a worthwhile achievement.

So those who are on the present hype of the re-branded concept of singularity, I say unto you Ha!

The concept is real, but the path you have chosen will keep you busy going around in endless circles.

The video is a erroneous use of the word. Science has determined that we’ve already had a singularity. There cannot be two. That wouldn’t be singular. The word singularity, as defined, prevents it from being considered a miracle.

The video suggests mutation. Not singularity. I lose respect for people that hijack established words to use for their own ad hoc purposes.

@Mr_Paradox Excellent answer. Very true.

@elbanditoroso Ha! Indeed that would be clever branding.

@RocketGuy Maybe, but that’s an unsustainable position.

@drhat77 I suspect the only think likely to nuke it is if, in our current stupidity and contentiousness, we nuke each other.

@Rarebear Is that just an article of faith with you, or do you have some evidence that leads you to think that?

@drhat77 Indeed they do. And it’s also how remarkably many good scientists who predict what will never happen get things bass-ackwards wrong.

@kess That may be were the technological approach leads. But nobody has demonstrated to me that they, as living human beings, have actually become I AM, THAT I AM. If you already are, then just smite me with a lightning bolt for doubting your perfection. If you are unable to do that, then it seems to me the path you have taken hasn’t gotten you very far either, except in your own view of yourself.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies We have lots of singularities. There is one at the center of every black hole in the known Universe, and there may be many more in Universes as yet unknown. But I was very careful to specify that this was not about “a” singularity but “The Singularity” and I even linked to a definition of what that is. If that definition has already been met by science, it is news to me, and it’s news to the American Academy of Science and the Royal Society and AI researchers and geneticists all around the world. I lose respect for people who don’t read the details of questions; or who, having done so, prefer to assert their own definition as being superior to the one the rest of society uses in discussing something.

I have lack of good evidence showing me that the singularity is a possibility. It’s all just speculation

@ETpro by nuke I meant pull out every scrap of computer based technology from our lives, which we are unlikely to do.

From the wiki link…
“a greater-than-human intelligence will emerge, which will “radically change human civilization, and perhaps even human nature itself.”

How is this different than a mutation?

If you’re looking for a technological “singularity”, that has already taken place with the invention of written language and or agriculture. Both meet the same requirements.
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“Since the capabilities of such an intelligence may be difficult for an unaided human mind to comprehend, the technological singularity is often seen as an occurrence (akin to a gravitational singularity) beyond which—from the perspective of the present—the future course of human history is unpredictable or even unfathomable.”

I’m unconvinced humans would have the brain power to even recognize such a thing even if it was staring us in the face. A trout doesn’t think a dolphin is more intelligent than himself. A cow doesn’t think a rancher is more intelligent than himself. Even humans relate to god concepts based upon their human intelligence, believing such a thing could be understood on human terms.

I don’t think we are programmed to recognize higher intelligence. Think about it… A drunken redneck at the local tavern is likely to consider highly educated scholars as somehow beneath him, passing judgement upon the stupid things they’ve done. Not so different than teenagers thinking they are smarter than their parents. Or an employee thinking he’s smarter than the boss.

There may also be an unwitting, and unconscious desire for humans to believe such an event would happen within their lifetimes. Every generation has expressed the idea that “something” is about to bust. Change is coming.

The idea of a technological singularity is not so far afield from the judgement day principles of religion. Perhaps it’s just part of our nature to insist that universal revolution is just around the corner.