At 01:17 PM 9/3/00 +1100, Damien wrote:
>>The new name for believers in the singularity should simply be...
>
>>Eliezerarians! ;)
>
>Well, if we're interested in respecting priority here (and I doubt Eli
>would dispute this), the name should be Vernans.
I don't how Vernor would respond. Why not just keep it the Singularity, as
he uses, and let the list be Singularity and those who post on it
individuals (either as extropian transhumans, or other types of
transhumanists.) If you've got to label list members, then any of your
choices is probably just fine (except the S-Man thang is a bit 20th Century.)
I'm not sure of the focus, though. Is the Singularity Institute's
direction attempting to produce research about the oncoming Singularity and
develop of ways to deal with the massive growth of machine intelligence, or
exercise a belief system?
After considering aspects of the Singularity such as software complexity
problems and other basic issues, it really gets interesting when we
navigate in the dense fog of superintelligence and begin applying a variety
of analogies (such as Vernor does) that require complex conceptualization
to imagine situations "afterwards." Those who study and work in the field
of superintelligence are from diverse sub-fields within technological,
mathematical and design fields. Do you think that trying to narrow the
Singularity into a belief system takes away for the enormous field of study
that it can become?
"There are certain things that may or may not be possible to do with
technology. If they can be done, they grant immediate and enormous
advantages to the groups that bring those advances about." Vernor Vinge
Natasha
Natasha Vita-More: http://www.natasha.cc
To Order the book: Create/Recreate: The 3rd Millennial Culture
http://www.natasha.cc/books.htm
Extropic Art & Transhumanist Arts Center: http://www.extropic-art.com
Transhuman Culture InfoMark: http://www.transhuman.org
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