[extropy-chat] My Dilemma

[Charlie Stross]

On 6 Jul 2006, at 00:28, Russell Wallace wrote:

> On 7/5/06, A B <austriaaugust at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I've been struggling with an issue for a few months now, ever since  
> I first learned about the Singularity and its myriad implications.  
> My dilemma is that I'm not sure that I should try to inform and  
> educate my friends and loved ones about the Singularity.
>
> I think "tell the truth and shame the devil" is a good guideline.
>
> I also think, however, that the truth is that the more extreme  
> Singularitarian predictions are about the human predilection to  
> believe in doomsday/nirvana scenarios rather than the actual future.

I think a good antidote for anyone getting a wee bit overheated about  
the Singularity would be to read "The Pursuit of the Millennium" by  
Norman Cohn. It's a history of a rather different strain of  
millennialism -- the one that ravaged Europe circa 950AD-1030AD --  
but the underlying lesson is transferable.

Like it or not, we are mostly natives of societies that are infested  
with a pervasive religious meme complex that trains us from an early  
age to expect the return of a semi-mythical leader who will set all  
wrongs to right. This predisposes us to anticipate the Singularity in  
terms wittily characterized by Ken MacLeod as "the Rapture of the  
Nerds" (when we'll all go a-flying up to machine heaven, hallelujah!).

The reality is, it may or may not happen, and if it *does* happen we  
may or may not live to see it anyway. Angsting about it is pointless,  
unless your purpose is to lobby your local government to try to make  
the horrid thing impossible by, say, banning certain lines of research.


-- Charlie