A Brave New Singularity Blog

After reading the article discussing the ideas of singularity, I still remain somewhat skeptical of the predictions cast down on the world by people that have come to be known as the highly intelligent philosophers.  Sure their ideas are revolutionary, and no one says it better than Lev Grossman when he explains Kurzweil’s theory as, “approaching a moment when computers will become intelligent, and not just intelligent but more intelligent than humans. When that happens, humanity — our bodies, our minds, our civilization — will be completely and irreversibly transformed”, however swallowing that belief, and try to grasp all that it encompasses is an almost ludicrous task. 

            As I read Brave New World, there are some similar thoughts by Bernard when regarding this topic.  When he exclaims, “…what would it be like if I could, if I were free-not enslaved by my conditioning.”  I believe that by that by drawing a connection to this story, it is possible to not see the how singularity takes place, or even how it begins, but to see the short-term consequences of it.  Also, the question that seems to remain unanswered is the one that may be the most important.  Is Singularity a “good” or “bad” thing?  For most people to answer this question religion becomes a popular catalyst.  For example, in Brave New World, no one has religion therefore their acceptance of Singularity is absolute unless certain happenings occur.  Bernard is an example of this, in that he is treated differently and consequently has begun to question the methods being used.  Bernard sees Singularity as a negative thing and therefore tries to refrain from being brain washed by his conditioning.  His “Romantic” views may be heretical in that society, but show an interesting perspective of this entire debate and raise an interesting dilemma.  Are humans willing to give up humanistic tendencies, and will humans lose themselves (their being) during the so-called imminent Singularity transition between mind and computer?