X-Message-Number: 28000
From: 
Date: Sun, 28 May 2006 16:39:56 EDT
Subject: Singularity

I think a lot of people are missing the point of the Singularity.
 
The Singularity, as described by Vernor Vinge, is simply the emergence of a  
super intelligence so far beyond us that we cannot understand even its  

motivations.  A dog watching a physicist discuss quantum theory by typing  on a

computer connected to the Internet has no idea what is going on, and when  we 
deal 
with such a creature or creatures, neither will we.  The dog can  interact 
with the physicist, share opinions about food, and there may be mutual  

fondness.  Nor will the man suddenly become malevolent -- that rarely goes  with

intelligence. In fact the dog will be safer and freer than in the wild  state --
the man lets him run free through the woods and even ride in the back  of a 
pickup truck  - something no mere wolf ever gets to do! But the dog is  still 
puzzled about quantum physics.
 
We might reach the Singularity through many technologies.  We might  discover 
the genes for intelligence, put them all into an embryo, and produce  

children with 300 IQ's.  We might manipulate them and produce 400  IQ's. The 400
IQ's 
would think what to next, and from there all bets are  off.  In my experience 
when I talk to someone with a 5 IQ point advantage I  can rarely tell them 

anything they don't know, and 20 or 30 points is just  awesome.  As for a 400 IQ
-- well, I could roll over and let her scratch my  belly...
 
We could read out human minds and simulate them in a computer that runs  

thousands of times faster, and does not get distracted and communicates  
perfectly 
with other read-out minds.  This would simply empower existing  people, 

allowing a Richard Feinman to do a thousand years of thinking in a week  (and 
where 
would *that* take us?!) We could let these minds meld.
 
Or we could ignore all the wisdom of a hundred science fiction stories and  
build an intelligent computer with motivations for control and the power to 

take  over the world, as people here seem to fear.  But what on earth would move
us to do *that*?
 
Anyway, the emergence of a Singularity primarily implies an intelligence so  
great it solves all our existing problems benevolently and brilliantly, and 
goes  on to things we cannot even guess.  It is that last part that is so  
interesting and exciting, and makes Vinge's books (especially A Fire Upon the  
Deep) so provocative. 
 
Alan


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