> I'm new to this list, and I was wondering if many Extropians are
> on CR (calorie restriction) or are signed up for Cryonics suspension
> to increase chances of living to see the Singularity.
>
> David
------------------------------
From: "Spike Jones" <spike66@attglobal.net>
>Ive been doing a mild version of CR for the
> past 23 yrs, not signed up for cryonics yet, estimate chances
> of living to see singularity ~60%. spike
---------------------------------
As I understand it, the Singularity is a spike of accelerating
technological evolution, a very steep mountain of hi-tech expansion, a
tsunami of change brought about by the consilience of bio-tech, nanotech,
and AI-tech into human-competitive robots, and thence to worlds without
end. Fine and dandy... and the closer we get to it, the harder it is to
see. This Singularity is going to do whatever it wants to do. So, whether
or not we ever get to see it may not be our call. It looks to me as though
something this big is best seen from a distance. In fact, I could see it
more clearly ten years ago. But hey, maybe the last decade is catching up
with me. τΏτ
> More important than being alive at the singularity is being alive one
day after
> the singularity. The only thing I can say about surviving this event is
that the
> odds are greater than zero and less than one.
>
> John K Clark jonkc@att.net
Sounds like pretty good odds, compared to the odds of surviving (for
example) cryonic suspension. The worst that can happen is Homo sapiens
sapiens becomes extinct, which it may have to do anyway, in order to
transcend biology. It's only the end of the world... and perhaps the
beginning of a Type I civilization. Moravec may be morose to think his
Mind Children can't keep up with a Singularity. Kurzweil's Spiritual
Machines should not shrink from this singular challenge. De Garis'
Artilects may aspire to be assimilated by the alien intelligence of the
Singularity. Some people may right now be thinking they could actually
survive singularity by uploading to an upgradable Robo sapiens. Somebody
stop me -- I'm philosophizing here.
Stay hungry,
--J. R.
3M TA3
=====================
Useless hypotheses: consciousness, phlogiston, philosophy, vitalism, mind,
free will
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