Re: Spike or Swell
Dan Clemmensen (Dan@Clemmensen.ShireNet.com)
Sat, 09 May 1998 23:36:05 -0400
Damien Broderick wrote:
>
> At 09:45 AM 5/9/98 -0400, Dan wrote:
> >Newcomers who are interested in this may wish to read Damien's
> >book "The Spike." You'll have to mail-order it from Australia,
> >but that's what the web is for, isn't it?
>
> Thanks for the nod, Dan. But I'm a bit worried about the way you've
> adapted my term `spike'. Really I just meant it as an quick and
> media-memorable synonym for Vinge's `Technological Singularity'.
Sorry, Damien. I remembered that at one point we were using "spike"
and "swell" as two alternatives, but I had forgotten that you had
achieved a synthesis. I should go back to "phase change" as a
descriptor for the instantaneous hypothesis. Anders and I seem to
have agreed on a consise characterization of the differences in
our positions. I think this is a positive result that clarifies the
issues, at least for me.
> [...]
> BTW (plug time), people can order THE SPIKE from
> http://www.dymocks.com.au/
> [and the Oz$ exchanges for about 63 US cents right now, damn it]
Yeah, but we'll buy more books this way! It is as easy to buy from
them at from amazon, and lower exchange rate takes the sting out of
the extra cost for fast delivery.