singularity and exi-GIMPS team

Jones, Spike (spike.jones@lmco.com)
Wed, 11 Aug 1999 14:07:37 -0700

Someone please forward this to Eliezer. thanks!

	Question Eliezer and other singulatarians: would it enhance
	progress toward the singularity if a large number of personal
	computers were to be set up to run 24-7-52 and were inter-
	connected?  It would seem so, and this gives me an idea.

	We have been talking about an extropians GIMPS team, and
	we already have a seti@home team.  But, we dont *have* to
	run either.  We can combine the teams into a parallel computing
	infrastructure, that would then be usable as a resource for other
	projects, perhaps ones that are more pertinent to extropians,
	such as Shane Brubaker's sim of a leech brain, or some wild
	scheme by Eliezer, for instance.  

	The important thing is to *start* somewhere, which is to pick
	a project, such as seti or GIMPS, and get extropians comfortable
	with leaving their computers on, and with the notion that something
	is running behind the screensaver scenes.  GIMPS is a good
	technology demonstration platform for this, since I know from
	experience that it does not crash your computer and it gets
	outta your way when you are doing something else.

	A few months ago, I would have been loathe to do *anything*
	which might hasten the singularity, however, as I think it over
	the idea is growing on me.  Of course, I still have some dread
	that the singularity might want to kill us all.  That would be

"bad".
	But maybe not.

	Eliezer, please take me outta your kill file temporarily for the
	sake of this discussion, which is up your alley, but delete
	anything from me which is not labelled singularity.  thanks!  spike