RE: [singularity] Convincing non-techie skeptics that the Singularity isn't total bunk

[Peter Voss]

It is very hard to *emotionally* integrate implication is the Singularity – we just have no real-world experience to draw on. Of course, people are also afraid of change – especially on such a massive scale. And they are skeptical of wild scientific claims. And deeply imbedded idea of dualism (a soul of some sort) in 95% of the population further prevents accepting the possibility of machines with full human-level cognitive capabilities.   I have a more fundamental question though: Why in particular would we want to convince people that the Singularity is coming? I see many disadvantages to widely promoting these ideas prematurely.   Peter   From: Hank Conn [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, September 25, 2006 7:04 AM To: singularity@v2.listbox.com Subject: Re: [singularity] Convincing non-techie skeptics that the Singularity isn't total bunk   I am usually able to convince people that the Singularity is possible, if not even plausible, although I have never actually 'converted' (so to speak) someone to be a Singularitarian.   As always, though, I like to get the idea out into the open, and one thing I am interested in right now is getting across a more concrete notion of 'intelligence enhancement' (and hence recursive self-improvement). There are a couple of concepts like 'Google Mind' or perfect playback memory, calculator in the brain, massively speeding up subjective experience, Matrix-style learning, etc, that are always good to bring up, but I think the having a laundry list of concepts to express some concrete mechanisms for intelligence enhancement may help bring the point closer to home.   On 9/23/06, Ben Goertzel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hi, I have been considering co-authoring some verbiage aimed at explaining the Singularity notion to intelligent, educated non-nerds (together with a writer I know who is more experienced and expert than me at writing for a non-technical audience). Of course this has been done before, e.g. it has been done excellently by Kurzweil and Broderick, but their wonderful book-length treatments are IMO too long, involved and complex for a lot of people to take the time to wade through....  And I find that Kurzweil's graph-centric approach has plusses and minuses -- there is a lot of mistrust of "lies, damn lies and statistics"out there.  And, I much admire Eliezer's essay "Staring into the Singularity", but it's way too intense for most readers.... Anyway, I am curious if anyone would like to share experiences they've had trying to get Singularitarian concepts across to ordinary (but let's assume college-educated) Joes out there.  Successful experiences are valued but also unsuccessful ones.  I'm specifically interested in approaches, metaphors, focii and so forth that have actually proved successful at waking non-nerd, non-SF-maniac human beings up to the idea that this idea of a coming Singularity is not **completely** absurd... thanks Ben G ----- This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/[EMAIL PROTECTED]   This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/[EMAIL PROTECTED] This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/[EMAIL PROTECTED]