Science and Exploration

[dark_crystal]

ooooh i been wantin to talk to some geeks about this:

The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era

(guy spoke at ALA Midwinter so he's on the librarian hive-mind right now)

I argue in this paper that we are on the edge
of change comparable to the rise of human life on Earth. The precise
cause of this change is the imminent creation by technology of
entities with greater than human intelligence. There are several means
by which science may achieve this breakthrough (and this is another
reason for having confidence that the event will occur):

• The development of computers that are "awake" and superhumanly intelligent. (To date, most controversy in thearea of AI relates to whether we can create human equivalence in a machine. But if the answer is "yes, we can", then there is little doubt that beings more intelligent can be constructed thereafter.
• Large computer networks (and their associated users) may "wake up" as a superhumanly intelligent entity.
• Computer/human interfaces may become so intimate that users may reasonably be considered superhumanly intelligent.
• Biological science may find ways to improve upon the naturalhuman intellect.

if it's "Computer/human interfaces become so intimate that users may reasonably be considered superhumanly intelligent" then i am SO DOWN WITH POST-HUMANISM

i have wanted to become a cyborg for years