[ExI] Best metric for gauging progress towards the singularity?

[Omar Rahman]

Dear all,

This is my first post here. A link to a video from The Onion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdCnUCN83-k

Watch the ticker at the 1:00 mark.

That was the fun part...

On a more serious note; I look at the Singularity as the next step in evolution  following, roughly, a chain like this:

chance outcomes 				(early RNA formation, etc.)
survival selected outcomes		(bacteria and later forms)
chance sexual outcomes			(pollen on the wind)
chosen sexual outcomes			(choosing partners)
chance environmental changes	(changing conditions)
chosen environmental changes	(controlling conditions)
chance co-option 				(using other species)
chosen co-option					(controlling other species)
engineered co-option				(engineering other species)
engineered offspring				(engineering our species)
engineering ourselves			(Singularity!)

How fast can we adapt to change? And how well can we engineer it?

Regards,

Omar Rahman