There’s a story about an old man who was forced to accept what was then common in his society, enhanced intelligence. He’d lived a long, full life, was married and had children, but was aware he was near his end, and he was fine with that. As life slowly left him, the knowledge of the world became available to him. The last thought he had was, “I wish I had more time.”
As the years go by, and I grow older, I wonder if I will be like that old man… will I wish I had more time? Am I too late for the singularity?
The idea of the singularity originated with Irving J. Good in his 1965 book, Speculations Concerning the First Ultraintelligent Machine. The idea gained more attention with Vernor Vinge’s 1986 book, Marooned in Realtime, and in his 1993 paper, The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era.
I became more interested in the singularity when I read Ray Kurzweil’s 2006 book, [easyazon_link identifier=”0143037889″ locale=”US” tag=”georgeclemons-20″]The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology[/easyazon_link]. Kurzweil brought the concept of the singularity into the main stream. He explained it in terms we could all understand, and gave us his predictions of what to expect including life extension technologies.
Kurzweil’s singularity is well documented, although controversial, and based on what he calls mathematical or astrophysical singularity. Most people associate the singularity with a black hole, or a “gravitational singularity.” That is the point at which matter has no volume and infinite density, and the curvature of space-time is infinite.
Another term commonly associated with black holes is an “event horizon.” An event horizon is the boundary near a black hole, where the pull of gravity is so strong that light or information can’t escape. Therefore, it’s impossible to know what events take place beyond the event horizon. The technological event horizon is similar. It’s the boundary nearest the technological singularity, beyond which we have no way of knowing what happens.
There are a couple of things we know about the technological singularity:
- It’s coming. The rate of technological growth is increasing exponentially. Although it’s a cliché, the smartphone is the best example of the exponential growth of technology. Compared to the smartphones of today, the original smartphones appear to be crude, archaic devices.
- Technology that’s impossible today, will become possible. Life extension technology is the best example of what is now impossible, but will quickly become a reality as we approach the technological event horizon.
I’ve been afraid that I’ll be just a little too late to benefit from the technology we’ll create as we close in on the event horizon. My mind buzzes with the scenarios. Can you imagine laying in your death bed, and watching a news report about the latest life extending technologies, only to realize that it’s too late for you to use them? I may be too late for the singularity, but then again…maybe not.
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