Technological Singularity and Elizabeth’s Birthday
This week, my younger granddaughter, Elizabeth turns five years old (virtually though, going on forty). Paradoxically, on one hand, it seems as though she was just born, and on the other, it seems longer because so much has happened in the past five years. Isn’t it interesting that our perceptions of time are so dependent on what we’re doing and how we interact with the world around us?
Like Elizabeth, we have grown in the past five years: not only older but hopefully wiser. The technological advances witnessed during this time have been impressive but will likely pale in what is predicted to occur in the not too distant future. Vernor Vinge, Ph.D., is a retired Mathematics Professor and computer scientist at San Diego State University and a science fiction writer, addressed the topic of an intelligence explosion. Vinge seems to have been the first to use the term “singularity” in a way that was specifically tied to the creation of intelligent machines. He wrote:
“We will soon create intelligences greater than our own. When this happens, human history will have reached a kind of singularity, an intellectual transition as impenetrable as the knotted space-time at the center of a black hole, and the world will pass far beyond our understanding. This singularity, I believe, already haunts a number of science-fiction writers. It makes realistic extrapolation to an interstellar future impossible. To write a story set more than a century hence, one needs a nuclear war in between … so that the world remains intelligible.”
Wow! That’s a brain-full (or likely a brane-full). Vinge spoke about a world in which Technology Singularity is compared to the predictive ability of physics to the space-time singularity beyond the event horizon of a black hole. Get too close and there’s no going back to the past. A world in which quantum computers, nanotechnology, nuclear fusion and bioengineering will drastically change our relationship with the world and with one another. How close are we to that “event horizon” now? Do we really want to go there? Does anybody care?
Since humans like familiarity and find change stressful, imagine the angst these changes will bring. Sounds like us Psychologists will have a lot of work to keep us busy. Since by definition our frail human minds are incapable of imagining what these changes will be like, all the more, we need to enjoy the life we have now. Focusing on the negativity won’t enhance our lives. Sure, it’s out there, but we’ve got to balance it with an appreciation for the opportunities that exist now to improve our place in civilization.
Elizabeth certainly has a life ahead of her full of challenges. She needs to be intellectually flexible enough to adjust in order to maintain her place in the world. But she is still human, and will have quaint, human needs for Faith, love, food, socialization and work. While all of these are important, it will be Faith that provides her the spiritual compass she will require to not venture too close to the edge of technological darkness.
May the Force be With You, Elizabeth.
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About Dr. Virginia
As a licensed Psychologist practicing Cognitive therapy, I work with my clients to help them identify the personal issues that are preventing them from achieving a more satisfying and well-adjusted life.
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