Vinge's "singularity" is a worthy contribution to the long tradition of contemplations about human transcendence. Throughout history, most of these musings have dwelled upon the spiritual -the notion that human beings can achieve a higher state through prayer, moral behavior, or mental discipline. In the last century, an intellectual tradition that might be called "techno-transcendentalism" has added a fourth track. The notion that a new level of existence, or a more appealing state of being, might be achieved by means of knowledge and skill.
Sometimes, techno-transcendentalism has focused on a specific branch of science, upon which the adherents pin their hopes. Marxists and Freudians created complex models of human society or mind, and predicted that rational application of these rules would result in a higher level of general happiness.
At several points, eugenics has captivated certain groups with the allure of improving the human animal. This dream has lately been revived with the promise of genetic engineering.
Enthusiasts for nuclear power in the 1950s promised energy too cheap to meter. Some of the same passion was seen in the enthusiasm for space colonies, in the 1970s and 1980s, and in today's cyber-transcendentalism, which appears to promise ultimate freedom and privacy for everyone, if only we just start encrypting every internet message and use anonymity online to perfectly mask the frail beings who are actually typing at a real keyboard.
This long tradition -of bright people pouring faith and enthusiasm into transcendental dreams -tells us a lot about one aspect of our nature that crosses all cultures and all centuries. Quite often it comes accompanied by a kind of contempt for contemporary society -a belief that 37 Originally published in Extropy Online (2000). Copyright © Max More.
1. Achieve some form of "singularity" -or at least a phase shift, to a higher and more knowledgeable society (one that may have problems of its own that we can't imagine.) 2. Self-destruction 3. Retreat into some form of more traditional human society. One that discourages the sorts of extravagant exploration that might lead to results 1 or 2.
In fact, when you look at our present culture from a historical perspective, it is already profoundly anomalous in its emphasis upon individualism, progress, and above all, suspicion of authority. These themes were actively and vigorously repressed in a vast majority of human cultures because they threatened the stable equilibrium upon which ruling classes depended.
Although we are proud of the resulting society -one that encourages eccentricity, appreciation of diversity, social mobility, and scientific progress, we have no right, as yet, to claim that this new way of doing things is sane or obvious. Many in other parts of the world consider Westerners to be quite mad, and only time will tell who is right about that. Certainly if current trends continue -if for instance, we take the suspicion of authority ethos to its extreme, and start paranoically mistrusting even our best institutions -it is quite possible that Western civilization might fly apart before ever achieving its vaunted aims. Certainly, a singularity cannot happen if only centrifugal forces operate, and there are no compensating centripetal virtues to keep us together as a society of mutually respectful common citizens.
Above all (as I point out in The Transparent Society (Brin 1998)) our greatest innovationsscience, justice, democracy and free markets -all depend upon the mutual accountability that comes from open flows of information.
But what if we do stay on course, and achieve something like Vernor's singularity? There is plenty of room to argue over what TYPE would be beneficial or even desirable. For instance, if organic humans are destined to be replaced by artificial beings, vastly more capable than we souped-up apes, can we design those successors to think of themselves as human? Or will we simply become obsolete? Some people remain big fans of Teilhard de Chardin's apotheosis -the notion that we will all combine into a single macro-entity, almost literally godlike in its knowledge and perception. Frank Tipler speaks of such a destiny in his book The Physics of Immortality (Tipler 1994), and
更多信息……