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There's now a torrent out there for pearLyric. You can find it here: http://v.sine.com/pearLyricsV0_6.dmg.torrent

Stupid people do not become Gods; despite our technology, we are still mostly very stupid. If you don't believe me try watching the news or reading the paper a bit more. They will provide you with a refreshing reminder that despite all the "progress" made we still edge ever closer to the abyss of extinction.

If we don't do that, it's extinction for us. Maybe some other species will hit upon large brains and opposable digits, and dig up our remains in a few million years.

But if we do make ourselves smarter - not just smarter, but wiser - then the process won't stop until we become gods. We'll hit Vinge's singularity, and after that who knows? (Note: you may want to turn off style sheets when viewing that link, the font is illegible in my Netscape on MacOS.)

Vernor Vinge's Technological Singularity should be required reading on this topic. I'll summarize it, for those unwilling to hit the link:

Within 30 years, we will have created computers that, intelligent or not, can solve problems faster than mankind can. The computers will, among other things, be able to build better computers faster than men can. An automated economy will emerge, with the artificial quasintelligences directing progress almost completely.

The change in how homo sapiens sapiens moves forward technologically will be approximately as drastic as that of homo sapiens neandertalis discovering fire. No Neandertal could have predicted what the world would have been like post-fire.

Will we live to see homo sapiens++?

I personally believe Vinge is correct. It'll be a hell of a ride.

Normally I don't mind these Katz vs Taco review fests, but honestly, I think mine was better than either and gave away less important detail. Yer too fluffy, Taco - throw some substance in. We're not reading a review to have everything glossed over like that... Katz has ya beat here. ;)

• http://sine.com/expression/matrix.html

But while I'm posting: Hey, JonKatz! The technological runaway you describe is not an Omega Point, it's a Singularity, a point at which our current models of technological progress cease to apply. And that occurs once a posthuman/superhuman intelligence is created, not just an artificial one. I wish they'd hashed that out slightly more in the film.

For clarification: The Omega Point is a concept debuted by Frank Tipler in his book The Physics of Immortality : He claims that at the end of the Universe, during the Big Crunch, there will be an Omega Point at which time all that the Universe has ever experienced will exist once more, and all the consciousnesses that ever graced the Earth will once again be active. I think he's a crock.

Vernor Vinge was the first to really express the Singulairty concept well. This is the text of his thesis on the subject:

• http://sine.com/text/singularity.html

Normally I don't mind these Katz vs Taco review fests, but honestly, I think mine was better than either and gave away less important detail. Yer too fluffy, Taco - throw some substance in. We're not reading a review to have everything glossed over like that... Katz has ya beat here. ;)

• http://sine.com/expression/matrix.html

But while I'm posting: Hey, JonKatz! The technological runaway you describe is not an Omega Point, it's a Singularity, a point at which our current models of technological progress cease to apply. And that occurs once a posthuman/superhuman intelligence is created, not just an artificial one. I wish they'd hashed that out slightly more in the film.

For clarification: The Omega Point is a concept debuted by Frank Tipler in his book The Physics of Immortality : He claims that at the end of the Universe, during the Big Crunch, there will be an Omega Point at which time all that the Universe has ever experienced will exist once more, and all the consciousnesses that ever graced the Earth will once again be active. I think he's a crock.

Vernor Vinge was the first to really express the Singulairty concept well. This is the text of his thesis on the subject:

• http://sine.com/text/singularity.html

I personally plan to convert all the images on http://sine.com/ to PNG as soon as Photoshop can properly export them.

That site already won't display properly in most browsers - though it will in Gecko.