Upgraded from the Moot, "JimF" notes: I did, in fact, overhear two random subway passengers last week talking about the singularity.
Who, on the subway, has NOT pined for transcendence? I submit, in evidence.
Who, on the subway, has NOT pined for transcendence? I submit, in evidence.
Actually, the NYC subway system is a bit classier these
ReplyDeletedays than it was as portrayed in that Seinfeld episode.
BTW -- this one got by me when it happened a couple of weeks ago --
Henry Markram's "Blue Brain" project -- now called
the "Human Brain Project", has (apparently) gotten that
"Future and Emerging Technologies Flagship Initiatives"
funding it was angling for.
http://www.nature.com/news/brain-simulation-and-graphene-projects-win-billion-euro-competition-1.12291
http://www.humanbrainproject.eu/
And apparently the Yanks may be funding their own brain
research project (sensing and imaging, rather than simulating) --
the National Institutes of Health "Brain Activity Map"
(being compared to the Human Genome Project in significance
and cost) that Obama is **alleged** (no confirmation from
the White House -- it was Francis Collins who let the cat
out of the bag on Twitter) to have alluded to in his
State of the Union address.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/18/science/project-seeks-to-build-map-of-human-brain.html
Will these bring about the "Singularity" on schedule in
2045? Weeellll. . . ;->
(Today's NY Times article sounded very Kurzweilian, though --
suggesting that DNA-based "nanobots" will be used to
map brain activity from inside.)
> I did, in fact, overhear two random subway passengers last
ReplyDelete> week talking about the singularity.
Also Al Gore, in a book I flipped through in Barnes & Noble
last weekend:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Future-Drivers-Global-Change/dp/0812992946/
I gather it's not something he's rooting for, though.
;->
I gather it's not something he's rooting for, though.
ReplyDeleteDon't be so sure, check out the "Liberal Futurology" sub-heading of the (recently re-organized) Superlative Summary.