[soyclocky]

mikey -

i'll have to agree with you about not being down with cybernetics. to me, the singularity represents the explosive growth of knowledge and understanding - beyond that, i don't care to venture all that much. if someone wants to connect to a machine or have chips implanted, i guess i'd say go for it, although i wouldn't. personally i'm striving to become more in tuned with nature. i'm spending less time inside and more time out (up to about 3-5 hours per day). i am fortunate to live in "southern appalachia" and beauty surrounds!

so, to me, singularity is just a "concept" - another verification, if you will, of these times of transformation.

[Unergerah]

jivatman and "cousin" and others: if you are interested in more information about future technology/scientific activity/food production/use of human leisure time, please send me a private message, and i will give you the name of an interesting source of information specifically referring to this arena of information that you may or may not choose to explore. freedom of choice is what it's all about! jo anne

[97dYA9L3]

dear friends,

i didn't post this earlier, but follow what ray posts concerning singularity.

http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame...html?m=1%23696

be well, be love.

david

what if the singularity does not happen?
by vernor vinge

it's 2045 and nerds in old-folks homes are wandering around, scratching their heads, and asking plaintively, "but ... but, where's the singularity?" science fiction writer vernor vinge--who originated the concept of the technological singularity--doesn't think that will happen, but he explores three alternate scenarios, along with our "best hope for long-term survival"--self-sufficient, off-earth settlements.

originally presented at long now foundation seminars about long term thinking, february 15, 2007. published with permission on kurzweilai.net march 14, 2007.

just for the record

given the title of my talk, i should define and briefly discuss what i mean by the technological singularity:

it seems plausible that with technology we can, in the fairly near future, create (or become) creatures who surpass humans in every intellectual and creative dimension. events beyond this event—call it the technological singularity—are as unimaginable to us as opera is to a flatworm.

the preceding sentence, almost by definition, makes long-term thinking an impractical thing in a singularity future.

however, maybe the singularity won't happen, in which case planning beyond the next fifty years could have great practical importance. in any case, a good science-fiction writer (or a good scenario planner) should always be considering alternative outcomes.

i should add that the alternatives i discuss tonight also assume that faster-than-light space travel is never invented!

important note for those surfing this talk out of context :-) i still regard the singularity as the most likely non-catastrophic outcome for our near future.

there are many plausible catastrophic scenarios (see martin rees's our final hour), but tonight i'll try to look at non-singular futures that might still be survivable.

[soyclocky]

friends -

from the time my "awakening" began, i have researched alot of material and reflected on the meaning, making connections, etc. as was mentioned in another post, there is alot of information out there, and quite a bit is misleading. take, for instance, the concept of technological singularity. in fact, this is where my own research started. initially this concept, and related others, pointed to a future of gloom-and-doom. however, i eventually stumbled upon jenkin's work and the "positive" side of the coming future. given a choice, i chose a future based on spiritual development; love, not fear. going back, i look at that material in a new light...

earlier today i received an email from a colleague that had a link.

note from moderator: this link is phenomenal. let's all contemplate on how it correlates with our purpose on this site

http://www.glumbert.com/media/shift

i was surpised to receive this, interested in the content. however, it focused more on the growing education gap in the world and had no mentions of the upcoming consciousness shift. however, it did incorporate elements of the coming technological singularity. yes, science and technology do play a role in the coming changes, and this may help fill some gaps for a few...

anyway, i seized the opportunity to reply and mention that the clip had elements of the singularity. from there, i chose to add a few of my own words and share a few links. hopefully, she will begin a journey of her own...

given the "burden of knowledge", i believe it is our responsibility to spread the message. however, we must "tread lightly". so, if you are looking to inspire someone to start looking, but think unloading "everything" may be overwhelming, possibly the technological singularity is a good place to start. or maybe not. either way, its their journey.

good luck - take care :d

[JakilSong]

wow, fascinating... a must watch, especially for those unfamiliar with the statistics...

coolest one i thought was how 1 week of ny times has more information than that average 18th century person would read in their lifetime.

the movie does focus on the education gap though, likely with the implication (as most have) that perhaps the united states will fall into poverty...

however, i'm very optimistic, and i feel that technology and wealth created by it, if distributed equally, would allow everyone on earth to like relatively leisurely lives, will eventually get to that point when people ascend and the earth becomes more peaceful. it must, because otherwise, destruction seems almost a certainty.

note: my cousin has had a recurring dream throughout his life of a future earth, which has technology but where nature is not disturbed. most strikingly, he says he feels a tremendous sense of universal peace and harmony.

i think it will happen.

[elektikakass]

a note to moderators,


in the initial post in this thread there was a note from a moderator making a comment about the value of the information contained in the thread. the comment was fine, but such exo-commentary, if you will, needs to be within the square brackets " [ ] " so that a reader can be clear that such a comment will have come from other than the original author. parentheses " ( ) " are not to be used for such commentary...it has to be those square brackets for clarity for the readers.


regarding the topic of this thread, if one can find a way to get this url to china's leaders, one can hope that they can realize that they are only screwing themselves in their myopic efforts to stop/stymie the rising tide of technological information/innovation to lift, not only their own society, but the rest of the world as well.


geniuses do best when they have unfettered access to information, as this is one of the best ways to counteract tyrannical trends that tends to manifest in humankind when the innovation of information is attempted to be limited by force by the "leaders", rather than to be allowed to flow through society like a rising tide that cannot be stopped.


this is precisely why the elites are so afraid of geniuses out there...

[sasaderesada]

oh my, yes- what a marvolous presentation. let the evolution begin!

bob

[Rellshare]

i am curious as to what everyones opinion is as far as where all this technology is leading? there is a lot of talk about the sciences of nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, robotics, and genetics merging...what does all of this mean?

i don't really know if i am down with becoming a cyborg which seems to me where all these technologies that are exponentially growing are heading

more information about the technological singularity in the below:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/index.html?flash=1

peace,
mikey