The Singularity continued in part 3
For a book I didn't particularly enjoy it's stirred up some thought.
First of all - "The Singularity" - as I've noted in my previous 2 posts. It's not going to happen. Certainly not in the manner that the scientists predict. Certainly not at all in the manner predicted by the trans-humanist video I linked to in a previous post on the topic.
"The Singularity" is a fantasy, a scientific heaven, if you will.
My reasoning is thus. First of all we have to contend with various socio-cultural factors that will seek to limit the spread and distribution of wealth - however it is measured. These factors alone would prove enough to derail the best of Utopias.
But more importantly, chances are if it was possible the singularity would have already been reached by another civilization around another star.
I don't subscribe to to the view that we are at all alone in the universe. Isolated, yes, but a necessary isolation imposed upon us by our clumsy and evolving technology. I believe that the universe, where possible, thrives with life. Much of it unrecognized and/or unacknowledged by ourselves. And were it possible for the technology of any species or race to reach this level, then it already would have been reached. The universe, conservatively, is already some 14.7 billion years old. We're relative newcomers on the scene. The Singularity, were it possible, would have been reached and it's ripples would have spread to us. We would have "Made Contact" or been assimilated.
So rather than using the Fermi Paradox against Extra Terrestial life, I'll use it against the the technophile's dream of a virtual heaven or paradise. Not to upset their plans, but the future will be even stranger than we have imagined.
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- Category: Technology
The Road Less Travelled
"You're going to hell, ya know" he yells down cheerfully. It was one of those moments when I could see the high road from the trail I was on.
"Why don't you come on up here and follow me?" he suggests, and I can tell he wants some company. True, the view up there is better, you can look down at all the world, but somehow I like the path I've chosen, winding as it does down through the forest. The trees filter the sunlight, variegated foliage dappling sunlight on the forest floor, mossy logs and undergrowth, the path is comfortable, mysterious. The many bends hide the view, there are surprises lurking. And going on with a cheerful wave at my neighbor the forest swallows me up.
His path is up, forever up, and mine winds forever down, but for some reason they cross again and again. They're never too far apart, and whenever I come to a fork, no matter how many times I take the path that leads away from his I always find him again running parallel. On occasion I've had to walk his when they've run together, I don't like it. The view down is spectacular, but the trail is rocky and precarious. You must always keep you eyes on the path.
Sometimes he has company. When he does they make a great raucous, singing and clapping and praising the lord, cymbals and bells and loud conversations meant for me to overhear. Then in time they quarrel, parting ways at a fork in the road, some will find me on my path and praise my judgement, walking alongside me and chattering like imbeciles. I shake them at the forks in the road, letting them choose the path up I continue my slow meandering down.
"You're going to Hell, ya know" they say as we part, some good natured, others less so.
The path up the mountain, it's rocky and steep, it affords splendid views to those who'd take a break and look, but they keep their eyes on the path, only looking down to recommend the trail they're on.
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- Category: Creative
The Singularity - Continued...
SO reading the book ["Science at the Edge"] and watching related videos there are some interesting views about the singularity.
Many of the views are optimistic, technology will be our saviour, we will be able to, courtesy of the nanobots in our blood and brains, tune out at any given moment, sensory overrides will take place, nanobots will feed information directly into the associated sensory neurons and we can join in a virtual universe or worlds that will be indistinguishable from the real world. They will be able to repair every cell and neuron in our body. If that fails we'll still be able to live on by downloading our thought patterns, the essence of ourselves, into computers. Our intelligence will be augmented by an almost instant access to information and an instantaneous ability to process it. AI, if it exists by this point, will be able to score our lives, each one of us sharing ourselves with an AI minstrel only too happy to put a soundtrack to our lives, regulate our moods and physical condition....
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The Mousetrap
I found a mouse trapped in a smooth sided coleman cooler that has been stored in my kitchen. It couldn't get out. And with the hamster gone (RIP), I thought I could begin the big mouse roundup.
I caught it, then released it into Hammy's cage. It hid, afraid, behind Hammy's old straw hut.
The other mouse, if there's only one, began making a pile of noise as if in protest, rattling papers, swinging the chew that hangs from the drawer, always just out of sight, the audible mischief done, but no mice to be seen.
And I went to check up on it a few hours later, but it was still hiding I thought. And so I turned the cage upside-down, mussed in the sawdust, turned over the tropical hut, nothing.
It's escaped. I need to find an old aquarium, something without bars, these mice, they're nimble.
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- Category: Miscellany
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