Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

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."

5 of 484 comments (clear)

  1. My prediction... by Vo0k · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Two or three more presidents like George W Bush and we won't be endangered by the singularity for another 1000 years or so.

    --
    Anagram("United States of America") == "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries"
  2. Re:sensationalism much? by tomstdenis · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Agreed with all that except the Linux bit. UNIX ca. 1970 never had a O(1) scheduler if I recall correctly. Or the other dozen improvements to the OS as a whole.

    If you think Windows is leading the way in OS Kernel technology ... you're sadly mistaken. There are newer kernels out there that newer ideas then either of Linux or WinNT

    Tom

    --
    Someday, I'll have a real sig.
  3. My thoughts on a singularity by Jon+Abbott · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I wonder if there could be a solar flare powerful enough to render half the earth's electronics unusable... That would cause quite a technological singularity, in the opposite way that NPR imagines it. Any geophysicists out there who care to comment? I know Québec had a blackout in 1989 affecting 6 million people due to a magnetic storm in the atmosphere.

    --
    Slashdot's first reaction to VMware
  4. Re: your .sig... by Moofie · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Please tell me that you're not actually asserting that there is a right to not get blown up...

    --
    Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
  5. Re:Evolution yes, singularity no by mrcaseyj · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    >Can you imagine the "text book that anyone can edit" being used in any school, college, hospital, or anywhere else where accurate information is important?

    There seems to be a trend in education now for teachers to have the students discuss things amongst themselves and thereby teach each other. Wikipedia is certainly not nearly as unreliable as the other students in the class. Sure wikipedia is unreliable but it's also very useful. Should we also stop listening to what other people say? It's my experience that what people tell me is much less reliable than even wikipedia. Just because a source is unreliable doesn't mean it's not highly valuable. Don't bother reading slashdot posts either because some of the posts here are a little unreliable.