Kurzweil in a Professorial Gown, TSIN Trailer, UMass Students Levying Semantic Abuse Upon the Word “Singularity” Monday, May 11 2009
random and singularity 7:45 am
Kurzweil got another honorary degree, this time from Clarkson University. I am mainly linking this for the novelty value of Ray in one of those professorial gowns. He’s got that thoughtfully gazing into the future look down pat.
According to this web page, it looks like Kurzweil will be revealing the first trailer for The Singularity is Near tonight, in the midst of much anticipation.
Also, UMass students are pushing the envelope, abusing the word “singularity” in new and silly ways:
Invoking a bit of Ray Kurzweil-futurist talk (for which I am a sucker, by the way), Bercovich noted further miniaturization is necessary.
“We are right on the singularity of not being able to do it (miniaturize personal HUDs) and being able to do it,” he said.
I am right on the singularity of being proven right that the word singularity has lost all meaning. We may be stuck with it, but that doesn’t mean I can’t complain.
Well I am right on the singularity of stating that Singularity is X.
It’s not the first time. The word nanotechnology has lost all meaning. It’s gone from drexlerian assemblers to any area of chemistry that’s looking for prestige and a grant from the NNI.
The term human has lost all meaning. The p0p3 thinks it’s quite different than what a patternist and a computationalist thinks it is.
The term emotion has lost all meaning. What your regular waste of dead tree such as C0smp0l1t4n and Marvin Minsky thinks emotions are is worlds apart, galaxies, universes apart.
Isn’t it a good thing when our transhumanist lingua becomes the norm?
BTW, transhuman and posthuman have not, so far.
No it’s not, when it’s meme hijacking, when they take the memes, attribute totally different meanings to them, and use them against us. Humans are superduper good at that; spitting on the good and the worthy and praising the bad and the inane.
Anyone who thinks superstitionist memes aren’t insane, please ascend to heaven.
I’m guessing the offender quoted above meant to say “event horizon” — something that would sound far sexier than a plain old “cusp”, right? — but then out tumbles the wrong black-hole related concept.