[extropy-chat] Vernor Vinge podcast interview by Instapundit/Glenn Reynolds

Neil H. neuronexmachina at gmail.com
Wed Jul 19 21:08:29 UTC 2006


(This is somewhat old news, but it doesn't seem to have been mentioned here
previously)

Back in April, the Instapundit (Glenn Reynolds, a law professor at the
University of Tennessee) and Dr. Helen did a podcast interview with Vernor
Vinge. Here's a link and description:

http://instapundit.com/archives/029925.php

I'm interested in the Singularity, and I'm a big fan of Vernor Vinge's. He's
> got a new book out next week called *Rainbows End,*<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=as2&path=ASIN/0312856849&tag=wwwviolentkicom&camp=1789&creative=9325>set in 2025, and as I've mentioned before it's pretty much an
> *Army of Davids* <http://armyofdavids.com/> kind of world. He's also the
> author of such previous classics as *A Fire Upon the Deep*<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=as2&path=ASIN/0812515285&tag=wwwviolentkicom&camp=1789&creative=9325>and
> *A Deepness in the Sky.*<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=as2&path=ASIN/0812536355&tag=wwwviolentkicom&camp=1789&creative=9325>
>
> We talk to him about the Singularity -- and how it may come from the
> superhuman "ensemble behavior" of ordinary humans with powerful computers
> linked via the Internet rather than through the development of superhuman
> artificial intelligence -- about signposts indicating how we're doing, about
> humanity's prospects for utopia or extinction, and related minor issues. We
> also discussed writing science fiction (the secret, he says, is "brain
> parasitism," taking advantage of readers' smarts), whether college is
> becoming obsolete, mind uploading, and the joys (or lack thereof) of
> virtual-reality sex, a question that perplexes Helen.
>
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