Maybe 2012 is not too optimistic

by phil on Monday Oct 20, 2003 4:29 AM
Singularity

When they say that the Singularity will be here on 2012 the knee-jerk reaction is... only 8 more years?!?!

It seems too soon, but then I keep coming across articles that give me pause.

Case in point: NTT has found a way to use humans as wireless ethernet cables. Basically, they were able to transfer data using special tiles that tap the electrical fields naturally generated by humans.

Stop and visualize that for a second.... all of my wireless devices buzzing to life as soon as I step into the room? Or how about being a WAP for some guy's laptop?? Maybe our imagination is inhibited with floaters that make us think the Singularity will happen when we extend our bodies with machines and become cyborgs. If it's the other way around, where machines extend themselves through us, the Singularity may happen a lot faster than we think.

// My personal basis for gauging the proximity of the Singularity is to look for signs that we may already be there: the end of pain, holodecks, man-machine blurring, infinite knowledge, the global mind, the end of time, etc..