What is a Singularity?
In physics, it is a point of infinite density and zero dimension (e.g., the point from which the universe sprang). In computer science it is:
A time, possibly just a couple decades from now, when a superior intelligence will dominate and life will take on an altered form that we can’t predict or comprehend in our current, limited state.
At that point, the Singularity holds, human beings and machines will so effortlessly and elegantly merge that poor health, the ravages of old age and even death itself will all be things of the past.
Full article on the Singularity here.
For all of human history, mortality has always been 100% in the long run. We reduced heart disease and people began to live long enough to die of cancer. If we cure cancer people will die increasingly of Alzheimer’s or another degenerative disease. Whatever obstacle we overcome in near future, we will probably face others in the distant future. That said, longevity is bound to increase as it has in the past 100 years. (or maybe they will just plug us into the Matrix and we’ll live indefinitely as a algorithm of ones and zeroes!)
Rather than Heaven on Earth, the Singularity has all the makings of a dystopian future where some sociopath like Hugo Chavez or Kim Jong Il could rule forever. I’m guessing the rich folks and Googleheads out in Silicon Valley haven’t considered this possibility yet.
If you believe in Richard Dawkins’ view of life, we’re only here to perpetuate our genes. So, building robots that carry our genetic material is a logical progression.
I tend to think that this is just another step in the progression of the species. If we think of the progress we’ve made since the Industrial Revolution, it’s hard not to wonder what the future will hold.
I myself think the advantages will come when we develop the technology to skip the 20-year period of our lives where all we’re doing is learning. If life were like the Matrix, we would download our college degree instead of spending all that time working on it. It not only saves tremendous time and money, it also puts people into the work force earlier, and speeds the accumulation of knowledge.
Assuming humanity survives the Obama presidency…
Have none of you considered that artificial life is a higher life form? Biological life may simply be the evolutionary nexus that is required for superior (artificial) life forms to emerge.
That Man would be capable of engineering a superior form of life than anything we have seen naturally occur is doubtful, but what superior means is debatable.
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. — Psalms 90:12