[NTLK] OT: A Future That is a Singularity - Evolution

[Bradley Loeding]

Are you referring to futurist Ray Kurzweil and the hypothesis of a coming
technological singularity? If so, I find the concept riddled with problems,
and more akin to a religion of intelligence. It is only possible if quite a
few philosophical questions on intelligence, human nature, total energy
reserves, etc. are swept under the rug as being solved. One thing I can say
for sure is that it is, most definitely, not a forgone conclusion. I'll let
Wikipedia do the dirty work:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_Singularity#Criticism

Other than that, a few personal beliefs about the philosophy of
science/physics, when applied, lead me to believe that such an event is a
fiction:
1. When applying math to the natural world, and your final result goes to
infinity, recheck your math.
2. Exponential curves only model short-term real behavior. Long-term they
will always breakdown, at some point, due to "resource" limitation.
3. Nature abhors a singularity, naked or otherwise.

~Bradley



On Sun, Mar 28, 2010 at 8:28 PM, Ryan <newtontalk at me.com> wrote:

> Doing some research, I came across an interesting article about a
> future that is a singularity through mathematical recursion. The
> explanation is that we may one day be able to create machines, that
> themselves are able to create more intelligent machines than
> themselves. As it follows along this path, it goes on until a
> singularity forms through mathematical recursion. A possible future,
> that is just one big thing, where nothing is separate.
>
> I wonder if this has been modelled yet in an evolutionary context? And
> would a singularity be more 'simple', thus fueling the proponents who
> hold the idea that evolution is not concerned about complexity...
>
> Thank you,
>
>
> Ryan
>
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