George Rebane
Readers know that one of the dominant themes of RR has been the Singularity (see the RR Singularity category for more). As a technologist and AI researcher I have been a Singularitarian for most of my life. Ray Kurzweil has done civilization the service of becoming the most dominant and credible spokesman for accelerating technology and the prospect of functional immortality. But even in this age of information tsunamis, most people have no clue about what the Singularity is, and that they are living in the pre-Singularity years during which humanity’s ballgame is being changed to its very core.
Perhaps this age of ignorance is closer to ending with Time Magazine’s extended cover story of The Singularity (here). It is well written and covers most of the major issues related to this epochal event. From there we read –
The difficult thing to keep sight of when you’re talking about the Singularity is that even though it sounds like science fiction, it isn’t, no more than a weather forecast is science fiction. It’s not a fringe idea; it’s a serious hypothesis about the future of life on Earth. There’s an intellectual gag reflex that kicks in anytime you try to swallow an idea that involves super-intelligent immortal cyborgs, but suppress it if you can, because while the Singularity appears to be, on the face of it, preposterous, it’s an idea that rewards sober, careful evaluation.
I believe that if we seek to truly understand what is happening today and what near futures may be in store for us, then that effort will be futile, or at best incoherent, if it excludes the advent of the Singularity.
rebanesruminations.com 
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