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NPR Looks to Technological Singularity

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the science-driven-by-science-fiction dept.

Rick Kleffel writes to tell us that NPR is featuring a piece with both Vernor Vinge and Cory Doctorow looking at the possibility of the "technological singularity" in the near future. Wikipedia defines a technological singularity as a "hypothetical "event horizon" in the predictability of human technological development. Past this event horizon, following the creation of strong artificial intelligence or the amplification of human intelligence, existing models of the future cease to give reliable or accurate answers. Futurists predict that after the Singularity, posthumans and/or strong AI will replace humans as the dominating force in science and technology, rendering human-specific social models obsolete."

2 of 484 comments (clear)

  1. Great predictions of the unpredictable by TwentyLeaguesUnderLa · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, they first say that you can't predict what'll happen after that singularity because The World Will Be So Different Than Now, and then proceed to give predictions of what'll happen after that singularity?

    Brilliant, real brilliant.

  2. Re:Since when ? by JDevers · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Are you serious?

    How about these:

    1791 Luigi Galvani accidentally closing an electrical circuit through a frog's leg, causing it to
    jerk violently. This rapidly led to the understanding of how nerves and muscles work.

    1879 Louis Pasteur accidentally inoculated chickens with an old cholera culture. The chickens should have died from cholera, but they got sick and then got better. After discovering the mistake, Pasteur re-inoculated the chickens with fresh culture and the chickens didn't even get sick. This lead to the modern vaccination.

    1895 Wilhelm Roentgen accidentally discovered X-rays.

    1928 Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered that a type of mold (later named Penicillium) significantly inhibited bacterial growth. This lead to antibiotics.

    Never assume that all discoveries are predicted before they are "discovered." I would actually say that most INSIGNIFICANT technological advancement is predicted well out, most of these are evolutionary. Many significant advancements are revolutionary and there is no way many of them could be predicted as there was no information related to the new process before the discovery of the process itself.