Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Singularitarianism

Singularitarianism is a technocentric ideology and social movement that is defined by the belief that a technological singularity — the creation of a superintelligence — is a likely possibility within the medium-term future, and that deliberate action ought to be taken to ensure that “the Singularity” occurs in a way beneficial to humans. While some futurists speculate on the possibility and nature of a technological singularity, Singularitarians believe it is not only possible, but desirable if guided safely. Accordingly, they might sometimes dedicate their lives to acting in ways they believe will contribute to its rapid yet safe implementation.[1]
The term "Singularitarian" was originally defined by Extropian thinker Mark Plus (Mark Potts) in 1991 to mean "one who believes the concept of a Singularity". This term has since been redefined to mean "Singularity activist" or "friend of the Singularity"; that is, one who acts so as to bring about the Singularity.[2] Inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil, author of the 2005 book The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, defines a Singularitarian as someone "who understands the Singularity and who has reflected on its implications for his or her own life", and predicts the Singularity will occur in 2045.[1]

end quote from wikipedia under the heading "Singularitarianism"

If you have looked at the February 21st Time Magazine or looked at it at time.com you likely have already read of singularitarianism.

One of the other interesting tenets of Singularitarianism is that death itself is considered not necessarily permanent. Or let me say that better, "Aging is damage that can potentially be repaired using scientific principles. And the year human immortality will be possible is theoretically 2045. or "The Singularity".

There is an English biologist with a very long beard named Aubrey deGrey who is researching this premise right now. He has a PHD from Cambridge.

Another quote by him from page 48 of the Time magazine article is "People have begun to realize that the view of aging as something immutable---like the heat death of the universe---
is simply ridiculous." end quote.

Once again this takes me back to what one of my teachers once said to me, "If you live to be 100 you will see 500. If you live to be 500 you will see 1000. If you live to be 1000 you will see 5000. If you live to see 5000 you will see 10,000. I think I finally understand what he was talking about now. Because this is potentially true of anyone of us here on earth or beyond. 

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