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My first instinct was great, another pithy article from a nerd rapture-ist (riffing on Neal Stephenson here). But this piece is actually a very informative and

My first instinct was great, another pithy article from a nerd rapture-ist (riffing on Neal Stephenson here). But this piece is actually a very informative and interesting. A bit chatty, but very good overview of the history of AI up to now. I can never get past the structural similarities between the singularity prediction and the apocalypse of St. John the Divine. This is not the place to parse it out, but the key thing they have in common is the idea of a rapture, in which some chosen humans will be taken up and made one with the infinite while others will be left behind.

ponderosa 8y ago
This reminds me of the "Ascension" premise behind Ian M. Banks' last book in the culture series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hydrogen_Sonata https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hydrogen_Sonata
ta1234567890 8y ago
> some chosen humans will be taken up and made one with the infinite while others will be left behind This pretty much exactly what reaching enlightment/nirvana implies. Except it is not a specific point in history for everyone at the same time, but rather something that each individual person can choose to accomplish during their own lives.
TeMPOraL 8y ago
The standard "singularity looks too much like rapture" argument. Although unfortunately now only existing in the Internet Archive, here's a pretty decent rebuttal of this standard cognitive stopper by Steven Kaas: http://web.archive.org/web/20110718031848/http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/steven/?p=21 http://web.archive.org/web/20110718031848/http://www.acceler... After pointing out that the similarity is mostly structural (read: accidental, relevant at best as a heuristic) and listing a set of important differences between the two ideas, he finally concludes: > It’s also interesting to think about what would happen if we applied “Rapture of the Nerds” reasoning more widely. Can we ignore nuclear warfare because it’s the Armageddon of the Nerds? Can we ignore climate change because it’s the Tribulation of the Nerds? Can we ignore modern medicine because it’s the Jesus healing miracle of the Nerds? It’s been very common throughout history for technology to give us capabilities that were once dreamt of only in wishful religious ideologies: consider flight or artificial limbs. Why couldn’t it happen for increased intelligence and all the many things that would flow from it?
21 8y ago
> the idea of a rapture, in which some chosen humans will be taken up and made one with the infinite while others will be left behind. Didn't this already happened once? Some chosen animals were lifted to unbelievable heights, while the others were left behind and now are basically at the mercy of the chosen one?

ponderosa 8y ago

This reminds me of the "Ascension" premise behind Ian M. Banks' last book in the culture series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hydrogen_Sonata https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hydrogen_Sonata

ta1234567890 8y ago

> some chosen humans will be taken up and made one with the infinite while others will be left behind This pretty much exactly what reaching enlightment/nirvana implies. Except it is not a specific point in history for everyone at the same time, but rather something that each individual person can choose to accomplish during their own lives.

TeMPOraL 8y ago

The standard "singularity looks too much like rapture" argument. Although unfortunately now only existing in the Internet Archive, here's a pretty decent rebuttal of this standard cognitive stopper by Steven Kaas: http://web.archive.org/web/20110718031848/http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/steven/?p=21 http://web.archive.org/web/20110718031848/http://www.acceler... After pointing out that the similarity is mostly structural (read: accidental, relevant at best as a heuristic) and listing a set of important differences between the two ideas, he finally concludes: > It’s also interesting to think about what would happen if we applied “Rapture of the Nerds” reasoning more widely. Can we ignore nuclear warfare because it’s the Armageddon of the Nerds? Can we ignore climate change because it’s the Tribulation of the Nerds? Can we ignore modern medicine because it’s the Jesus healing miracle of the Nerds? It’s been very common throughout history for technology to give us capabilities that were once dreamt of only in wishful religious ideologies: consider flight or artificial limbs. Why couldn’t it happen for increased intelligence and all the many things that would flow from it?

21 8y ago

> the idea of a rapture, in which some chosen humans will be taken up and made one with the infinite while others will be left behind. Didn't this already happened once? Some chosen animals were lifted to unbelievable heights, while the others were left behind and now are basically at the mercy of the chosen one?