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

[Josh Treadwell]

Even though I've come to grips with what the Singularity represents and it's vast implications, most people I've discussed the implications with see it as something that "will just happen" or "smart people will figure it out".  Sometimes, they will latch on and get interested, only to fall away later because they're still limited by the knowledge gap.  It's a pioneers field, but the only pioneers out there aren't leaving a large enough bread trail.  Despite all my discussion and reading on the various subjects, it's difficult to see where I can start working.  Without something material to latch onto, the guys on the fringe end up giving the "oooh"'s and "aahhh"''s, but not knowing quite what is being done.  All these groups are secretive with their respective projects (for good reasons), but it takes such an incredible leap to start from scratch (not to mention a long time of just plain studying to understand the deep connections of psychology, computer science, philosophy of mind, current tech, genetic algorithms, nonlinear dynamics, etc) that you end up lost in a particular field, and don't ever get to the grand AGI perspective.     I'm an AD/HD prone autodidact without a degree (22 years old, 40+ hours a week working, and 14 hours a week of night classes), but I have more math/physics/logic/programming/psych knowledge than a majority of my teachers in such subjects.  I took two years off of school (due to monetary reasons) and have been burning through books to get my AI competencies up.  I'm now more comfortable in my understanding, but I still don't have anything to show for it.  Ben's Lojban++ project sounds interesting (and my only other AGI-interested friend just started work on it already), but it's a rare offer.      Is there anything we underlings can do for the Ph.D guys?  Has anyone written a "track" to follow for someone incredibly interested in AGI?  There is plenty of philosophical debate and texts to read, but where is the meat?  I've delved into jokes like Mind.forth, knowing full well that Mr. Murray is a kook, simply to garner SOMETHING material to tear apart.  Are there ANY open source AGI projects out there?  I'm driven to work on something I feel strongly about, but starting on something that seems like it's trailing in the wrong direction is disheartening. BTW, Ben when is AGI (the book) coming out?  It's been waiting on my Amazon list for some time now... -- Josh Treadwell      Systems Administrator         [EMAIL PROTECTED] C.R.I.S. Camera Services 250 North 54th Street Chandler, AZ 85226 USA p 480.940.1103 / f 480.940.1329 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 message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.