http://www.cfimichigan.org/forums/ Center for Inquiry | Michigan Forums en Copyright 2008 2008-01-29T23:21:25-05:00 http://www.cfimichigan.org/forums/viewthread/84/ http://www.cfimichigan.org/forums/viewthread/84/#When:23:21:25Z <p>Just wondering if anyone here is familiar with the concept (elucidated by many, Ray Kurzweil quite prominently) of the Technological Singularity? </p> <p> There is growing debate, in knowledgeable circles, about the possible consequences of the currently developing age of Genetics, Nanotechnology, and Robotics. </p> <p> The Singularity is the hypothesis that humanity (and by extension and default, all life) is entering a self-directed evolutionary “singularity”, a point in history beyond which any meaningful prediction about the future with our current level of bio-evolutionary development will become impossible. This point will be reached by the exponentially growing ubiquity and fundamental application of technology in the three main groupings of Genetics, Nanotechnology, and Robotics. </p> <p> There is much, much more to this topic (and my rather slim definition) , and I would love to discuss it. It is very apparent that this ( the singularity, not my thread <img src="http://www.cfimichigan.org/images/smileys/wink.gif" width="19" height="19" alt="wink" style="border:0;" />) will quite possibly be the most important and farthest reaching existential problem we will have to face in our lifetimes. </p> <p> (Wow that sounded dramatic, but if you research it, you will probably agree.) </p> 2008-01-29T23:21:25-05:00 http://www.cfimichigan.org/forums/viewthread/72/ http://www.cfimichigan.org/forums/viewthread/72/#When:14:35:50Z <p>If you haven’t encountered the video podcast put out by TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) you owe it to yourself to check it out.&nbsp; <a href="http://www.ted.com">Visit the TED web site.</a> </p> 2007-11-18T14:35:50-05:00