The Chase
I’ve been watching and reporting on The Singularity for a couple of years now. I like to pay attention to the latest gizmos and gadgets and research with an eye towards figuring out how it fits into our lives. Obviously an artificial limb that can be manipulated by the wearer’s mind is going to be a boon to someone who’s lost an arm or a leg, but there are deeper consequences to much of our technology and I try to figure out what they are. Will genetic modification of farm animals lead to genetic modification of humans? And at what level? There’s a big difference, morally speaking, between breeding diabetes out of the human race and breeding killer instincts into future soldiers? Is there a connection? Should we bother thinking about these things or is it happening so fast that the consequences are here immediately after the launch of some new technological gee gaw? Is everything becoming too late?
Are you, like me, fascinated with the ability to breed puppies that glow in the dark and why someone would want that? Maybe you want to be there when the first consumer takes that ride to outer space. Or perhaps you’re patiently waiting for your flying car same as me. If you're curious about any of that, come sit with me and watch the Singularity unfold. I repeat: I’m neither a believer nor a cynic, and I do have a sense of humor. If you do too, stay tuned.
Article comments
1 - Rick Schettino
Even without a singularity interesting times are right around the corner. Without a singularity would could still cure aging and anything else that ails us, converse with intelligent computers telepathically, enhance our brains and bodies, perfect nanomanufacturing and make everything dirt cheap, engineer our climate, create swarm robot armies, etc. Those kinds of advances are going to cause sea changes in humanity and the planet.
2 - Sue Lange
Yup.