The Technological Singularity and The Posthuman

The Technological Singularity is an theorized event that has been showing up in more and more science fiction work, but what exactly is it?  There are two general ideas of what the Technological Singularity will mean and many variations in between.  One popular possibility is that, as advances in technology are constantly accelerating, there will be a point where we will be so integrated with technological augmentation that we will no longer be human in the traditional sense.  In the future we may be more like cyborgs, with brain implants that make us super-intelligent and life-extension technology that basically allows us to live forever.  The other most popular idea is that we will create computers that are more intelligent than we are and can self-replicate, essentially designing their next generation to be more intelligent than the previous generation.  Each new generation of machines will increase in intelligence and will replace humanity when humanity is deemed obsolete.

The first theory is incredibly popular in Cyber-Punk science fiction.  People may be able to use chemical brain augmentation along with nanobots that repair the damage caused by cognitive enhancing drugs and at the same time keep the body healthy and young.  People could acquire implants for wireless communication with anyone, like having a telepathic cell phone implanted in their brains.  You could just think about who you want to talk to and then communicate with them through your thoughts.  We could move beyond our biological physical limitations with cybernetic limbs, telescopic eye implants, integrated super hearing aids and cognitive enhancing super computers hard wired into our brains.  Many of these technologies already exist but they are expensive and not entirely refined.  Even when they do become more readily available, there is the question of who gets to use them?  Will only the rich become the cyborgs?  Will technological augmentation lead to a new kind of class warfare?  Sci-fi works like Ghost In The Shell by Atsuko Tanaka and Neuromancer by William Gibson both address some of these questions.

We've all seen the ultimate sci-fi outcome of the second theory in movies like the Matrix and Terminator.  Artificial Intelligence is invented and machines start to build more machines, eventually they become so advanced that they try to eliminate humans.  Sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov addressed this problem with his popular Three Laws of Robotics:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Of course what makes sci-fi interesting is when something goes wrong.  If Artificial Intelligence were to advance to a point beyond programming and become more like actual human consciousness, these three laws would no longer apply.  The robot would have the ability to decide whether or not it should follow the laws.  A truly advanced A.I. would be indistinguishable from human consciousness.

I have my own theory on what the technological singularity will look like. I assume there are other people who share my opinion.  I think the technological singularity will be the point in time at which technology is changing so quickly that the change is almost, if not entirely, imperceptible.  Innovation, invention, creativity and novelty will increase at such a high rate that everyday we will make advances that used to take decades.  Technology will truly be indistinguishable from magic.  We will reach the point where technological acceleration is approaching infinity and nearly everything is possible.

The question is whether or not there is a technological wall.  Is there a point where no more technological advancement can be made?  Will there be a point where super computers are so fast that they can not possibly go any faster?  Will innovation stop when there is nothing left to invent?  I think that nearly everything may become possible but that doesn't mean that what is possible will be created.  A point of infinite potential may be reached that will open up a huge area of potential innovation but we will still be limited by things like space, time and natural resources.  Many technological innovations will be conceptual, but we will be unable to implement them all.  Many theories on the Singularity suggest that everything that is possible will come to be, but unless we can create material out of nothing, our resources for creation will remain limited.  Maybe we will be able to create material out of nothing and no limitations will apply.  I personally find it fun to think about possible scenarios but looking that far in the future is nothing but speculation.  What do you think the Technological Singularity will be like?

Real Fringe Science - Nazi's, MKULTRA and Technological Augmentation

Real Fringe science is the study of things that are outside of mainstream science; like ESP, telepathy, shared dream states, astral projection, lucid dreaming, neuro-linguistic programming, precognition, remote sensing, collective consciousness, entheogens, brainwave entrainment, anti-gravity, free energy, etc.  Mainstream scientists are often very skeptical of fringe science and sometimes associate it with pseudoscience or junk science.  While pseudoscience lacks the serious application of the scientific method and junk science ignores data to favor an agenda-driven outcome, fringe science uses the scientific method but looks at phenomenon that mainstream science finds to not be worth the time or effort.

Image From Brainwave Entrainment Website - Isochronic Tones

During World War II, Nazi Germany was actively engaged in fringe science research.  They worked heavily on developing paranormal abilities such as ESP, telepathy and telekinesis.  They were also rumored to be working on reverse engineered UFO's and anti-gravity systems.  In the aftermath of WWII, Project Paperclip was the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) program used to recruit scientists from Nazi Germany for employment by the United States government.  Some of those scientists may have been recruited to work for the super-secret Project MKULTRA.  MKULTRA was brought to public attention in 1975 but began operations in the 1950's.  It's best known for its CIA mind control experiments using psychoactive chemicals like LSD.  The CIA's objective was to manipulate individuals mind states and to alter brain function.  Most of the documents about MKULTRA are still classified but some people theorize that their ultimate goal was the creation of a "Manchurian Candidate" through brainwashing techniques.  Later the U.S. Military funded the First Earth Battalion, made famous by the film adaptation of the book "The Men Who Stare At Goats," by Jon Ronson.  The First Earth Battalion tried to train soldiers to see auras, walk through walls, bend metal with their minds, utilize retro-cognition and precognition to gather military intelligence, have out-of-body experiences and remotely view military targets, use telepathy to communicate with each other and... learn how to kill a goat using only their minds.  Before the Hollywood movie, there was an excellent documentary called "Crazy Rulers of the World" made by Jon Ronson.

Crazy Rulers of the World

Eye Telescope - Engadget.com

These days, the United States has been using fringe technology and augmentation for things like seeing using the tongue, seeing through clothes, brain implants, an invisibility cloak or telescope eye implants.  It won't be long before we can reproduce ESP type effects with advanced technology.  On the other hand, it does seem like our consciousness may have the capability of telepathy, access to the collective consciousness, astral projection and better vision but it is hard to study subjective experiences.  Entheogenic substances supposedly have a history of producing these types of experiences, but its almost impossible to verify that they are really happening and incredibly difficult to repeat the results.  Chemical augmentation of the brain may be just as important as technological augmentation, so maybe in the future we will use them together.  Until then, it looks like the real fringe science will be more about accelerated technology than taking LSD or staring at goats.

They're Watching Us - Domestic Surveillance

The NSA has confirmed their creepy codename for a new program called "Perfect Citizen." They deny that their technology will be used to spy on American citizens, even though we know American intelligence agencies have a long history of doing just that. The NSA was created in 1952 by secret presidential directive by President Truman and soon grew into a vast intelligence gathering machine. President Ford approved domestic surveillance in December of 1974 while trying to cope with the Cold War. President Nixon resigned over using federal resources to spy on political and activist group. In response, the pro-privacy Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 was signed into law by President Carter. President George W. Bush was found to be in violation of the FISA when he approved warrant-less wiretapping on U.S. Citizens and President Obama continued NSA programs and amendments to FISA that allow for spying on American citizens.

Artist - Banksy

Let's not forget that President Obama promised to end warrant-less wiretapping but has yet to do so. He sided with the Bush Administration and approved legislation that immunizes the nation’s telecommunications companies from lawsuits associated with the Bush Administration's eavesdropping on U.S. citizens. With the increase in Global Positioning technology, GPS is being used to track and trace citizens by private corporations who then report that information to intelligence agencies and police departments. The Cyber Security act attempts to legalize the collection of your personal information on the internet and to track your web browsing and all your online communications. Both Apple and Google have admitted to working with the NSA to collect information and create databases on their costumers. Facial recognition technology has been used at Obama's campaign events, sporting events and at the recent G20 protests in Canada. This Facial Recognition technology is also using data collected from social networking sites like Facebook to identify people and who is in their social network.

We all know about the full body scan technology being used in airports right now, but there is also a new technology that can see through clothes from a mile away. Security officers invade our privacy on a daily basis. Police officers do the same, blatantly disregarding the law, with a dramatic increase in warrant-less searches. The police department in Brooklyn, NY is under scrutiny for stopping nearly 52,000 people over the past 4 years in poor neighborhoods and frisking them, under the guise of looking for guns or because they "fit the description of a suspect." This is nothing more than intimidation and harassment, a precursor to an eventual full blown police state.

Artist - Banksy

They will track, trace and database everything they can. This is just the beginning, with new predictive technologies, ideas like DARPA's Total Information Awareness system, will start to be implemented, if they haven't already been. Several projects of the Information Awareness Office are still being funded and other countries are deploying the same technologies as the United States. A state of constant surveillance is on its way, it's only a matter of time.

The Lost Art of the Mix Tape

Obviously not many people use cassette tapes anymore. Even though you can still find a cassette player in some cars, most people don’t have them at home. I remember the transition from cassette tape to CD and trying to adapt the art of the mix tape to a new media. It was easier to make a mix CD for a friend but it often lacked that handmade song list and artwork that made mix tapes so much fun. I missed trying to figure out just what order I wanted the songs to be in and how to minimize the amount of silence at the end of each side. It was so easy with a CD to re-order songs on the computer before burning the final product. Mix tapes took significantly more planning. There was more room for your personalized art work on a mix CD but it still wasn’t the same.

The transition from CD to digital music player was even stranger. Suddenly I had my entire music library on me at all times. I stopped using CD players almost entirely, with the exception of ripping them into my iTunes so that I could transfer them to my iPod. The mix CD turned into the play list and was much harder to share with friends. It’s pretty easy to send a friend a link to a song you like or an artists Myspace or Facebook page, but it lacks that personal touch of a customized physical media. It’s easier to lend someone a Flash drive than burn a bunch of CD’s and that doesn’t really allow for the artwork that was so fun with mix tapes and mix CD’s. Sure you could design a album cover thumbnail so it would show up in their play list, but I find that kind of boring.

The mix tape is definitely a lost art that will be missed, but we do have the capability of having and listening to so much more music than we did even ten years ago. It’s amazing how much music of varying genres we can expose ourselves to now. With websites like Pandora and last.fm we can expand that selection even farther by finding other artists that are similar to the artists that we like. With social media websites we can find new and upcoming bands and don’t have to rely only on the radio and word of mouth. It seems like more people than ever before are creating music and that music is becoming more varied and interested. I think that’s a good thing even though sometimes I wish I still had some mix tapes in my glove box.