Singularity

Today1. Super quick intro2. The Singularity : What’s Up With That?3. Activity: Defining The Singularity in Small

Groups4. Discussion: Putting it All Together

So, Hi…I’m Phill Alexander, and I’m, as you might have guessed, visiting today. I’m a PhD candidate at Michigan State University, specializing in Rhetoric & Writing. I study online communities and video gaming.

It’s nice to be here today.

And now, back to class.

Kurzweil: Transcendent Man

The organizing idea that is shared in the first part of the documentary is Kurzweil’s (and others’) theory of “The Singularity.”

On the surface, it might seem simple, but what, exactly, is the singularity?

Here’s one way Kurzweil tries to prepare us to understand it…

Another definitionOne of the elements of the singularity is collective intelligence. So for a definition, let’s consult a technological source of collective intelligence: Wikipedia.

I know, I know… no student would EVER use Wikipedia as research.

So…

One key element of Kurzweil’s argument is that there will be an “intelligence explosion”– a moment where technology allows for the creation of something capable of “super intelligence,” something that will progress faster than we, as human beings, currently understand.

He also claims that we cannot truly anticipate this intelligence, as it will be beyond current human understanding.

That shouldn’t stop…Kurzweil’s hesitance to think humanity could understand the super intelligence that would lead into/be the singularity hasn’t stopped him from theorizing.

Nor has it stopped other thinkers, be those theorists, hard scientists, or even entertainers.

Let’s consider a few scenarios.

Networked Devices

Imagine the military develops a single network capable of running all computers and computerized equipment in the country. This software needs to be so sophisticated that it goes from being an Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) to having something that seems like sentient thought.

It then finds a way to communicate with every networked device on the planet, and the machines conspire. They realize they don’t NEED humanity.

Sound Familiar?

Hive-thinkingWe already live in a reality with synthetic worlds. People regularly login to Second Life, or video games like World of Warcraft, to inhabit a world governed by the machine, capable of things our “real” world isn’t. These worlds are simulations.

But what if we literally “plugged” our brains into the virtual world? And what if the machine turned us into living batteries, serving as nothing more than audience fuel cells?

Hello, Mr. Anderson.

Mind Enhancement

Imagine that researchers find a way to copy the mind– feelings, memories, abilities– to hard drives. At the same time, they discover a way to format and re-write to the human brain. This allows for not only the removal of/re-application of a single mind but for brain hacking—adding memories and skills, removing ideas, etc.

Using these paired technologies, a business emerges wherein people become blanks, like paper dolls, to have various customized minds written onto them.

Science Fiction to Science Fact

Given, those are fantasy scenarios, but they represent a future– perhaps a future not so distant– where something that might be similar to Kurzweil’s vision of the singularity has happened (or is happening).

What about something closer to home?

Activity

I’d like you to think a bit more about the Singularity. Please split into groups of two or three.

In your groups, I’d like you to develop a slide to add to this PowerPoint that is your definition of “the singularity” and/or a discussion of the implications the Singularity has for our considerations of the future of digital literacy.

Please keep in mind your course work this semester and specifically Transcendent Man. Use those ideas and concepts to inform your responses.

You will have approximately 10 minutes to complete your slide. It can include any media you can obtain and add to it. When you finish, email it to me at alexa325 @ msu.edu

Meet David…

• Your slides here• Note: we probably will not have time to look

at all of them. I will place this PPT online for you to look at after class

Thank you all for letting me talk with you today!

If you should have any questions or wish to continue this discussion, feel free to email me:

alexa325 @ msu.edu