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How to avoid the singularity

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Mike Travers
Mike Travers

The document discusses the concept of the technological singularity and issues with the way it is commonly viewed. It argues that the singularity is inherently unknown but that singulatarians treat it like a religion. It proposes that we instead take a distributed, network-based view of technology that does not assume a single point of control or view. A metaphor is provided of Indra's net to illustrate the interconnected nature of networks.

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How to avoid the singularityInconsistency Robustness 2011Panel: Inconsistency Robustness and the Singularity
The Singularity is inherently unknowableBut humans have systems for talking about the unknowable
How to avoid the singularity
Singulatarianism has the form of a religionThe rapture of the nerdsSpecificallyTranscendentalEschatalogicalMonotheistic (implicitly)But most singulatarians are atheists!Their atheism is shallow: theyve just replaced it with an equivalent belief system
Monotheism-> Individualism -> objectivityTuring/Von Neuman model of computationPolytheism??? -> Society -> subjectivityDistributed/Actor model of computationWithout a single point of view, inconsistency is the norm
The cure for singulatarianismNetwork thinkingMonotheism wants to collapse the universe's locus of control into a single transcendent pointInstead: radically distributed controlInstead of hyper-empowered individuals,Hyper-connected networks of actors
Todays social networks are a mere hint of what is to comePerhaps a different theology is needed
How to avoid the singularity
Far away in the heavenly abode of the great god Indra, there is a wonderful net which has been hung by some cunning artificer in such a manner that it stretches out infinitely in all directions. In accordance with the extravagant tastes of deities, the artificer has hung a single glittering jewel in each "eye" of the net, and since the net itself is infinite in dimension, the jewels are infinite in number. There hang the jewels, glittering like stars in the first magnitude, a wonderful sight to behold. If we now arbitrarily select one of these jewels for inspection and look closely at it, we will discover that in its polished surface there are reflected all the other jewels in the net, infinite in number. Not only that, but each of the jewels reflected in this one jewel is also reflecting all the other jewels, so that there is an infinite reflecting process occurring.

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How to avoid the singularity

  • 1. How to avoid the singularityInconsistency Robustness 2011Panel: Inconsistency Robustness and the Singularity
  • 2. The Singularity is inherently unknowableBut humans have systems for talking about the unknowable
  • 4. Singulatarianism has the form of a religionThe rapture of the nerdsSpecificallyTranscendentalEschatalogicalMonotheistic (implicitly)But most singulatarians are atheists!Their atheism is shallow: theyve just replaced it with an equivalent belief system
  • 5. Monotheism-> Individualism -> objectivityTuring/Von Neuman model of computationPolytheism??? -> Society -> subjectivityDistributed/Actor model of computationWithout a single point of view, inconsistency is the norm
  • 6. The cure for singulatarianismNetwork thinkingMonotheism wants to collapse the universe's locus of control into a single transcendent pointInstead: radically distributed controlInstead of hyper-empowered individuals,Hyper-connected networks of actors
  • 7. Todays social networks are a mere hint of what is to comePerhaps a different theology is needed
  • 9. Far away in the heavenly abode of the great god Indra, there is a wonderful net which has been hung by some cunning artificer in such a manner that it stretches out infinitely in all directions. In accordance with the extravagant tastes of deities, the artificer has hung a single glittering jewel in each "eye" of the net, and since the net itself is infinite in dimension, the jewels are infinite in number. There hang the jewels, glittering like stars in the first magnitude, a wonderful sight to behold. If we now arbitrarily select one of these jewels for inspection and look closely at it, we will discover that in its polished surface there are reflected all the other jewels in the net, infinite in number. Not only that, but each of the jewels reflected in this one jewel is also reflecting all the other jewels, so that there is an infinite reflecting process occurring.