4 ms·

I'm not sure if I voiced my particular distaste for the term "singularity" before, but it's something that really does get on my nerves. I'm reminded of Pastern

I'm not sure if I voiced my particular distaste for the term "singularity" before, but it's something that really does get on my nerves. I'm reminded of Pasternak denouncing the phrase "We the people's" in Dr. Zhivago. It's a word that the community that use it most often are utterly stripping bear and bastardising. As far as I'm concerned there are only two (with a possible third) definitive singularities - those of the "black holes and baby universes". <br/> I really can't see the useful application of the metaphor here. It's not a singularity... a wave, certainly. This gives us the idea of the "seventh wave" which concentrates the potency of the waveform. Or how about a renaissance? It will get to the point where software development, especially in AI, reaches a functional plateau. Branching out and diversifying into many stylistic forms. Or (my personal favourite) a "Babel Event", where we construct a universal medium, shattering the old converging paradigms and multiplying our complexities by an order of magnitude. <br/> Surely these are far more "useful metaphors" than the idea of a singularity - the point at which the rules change, or the classical conventions are destroyed? I think this is insidiously vague (and might be why the "singularity meme" has spread so far/fast?)

dejb 17y ago
Also it is quite an inconveniently long word. If you strongly agree you are a 'singularitarian' which is a bit of a tongue twister.
- CalmQuiet 17y ago
  If it actually caught on, surely it would be shortened to "singy" (sin-gee).
- sep332 17y ago
  It may be long, but this song makes up for it: http://www.transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/more/kamsingsong/ http://www.transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/more/kamsingsong/
jimbokun 17y ago
I believe the media, or more accurately that subset of the media who are even aware of the idea, have labeled it the "Nerd Rapture." Which, whether you find it accurate or not, is definitely a catchier phrase than the "Singularity."
- tjic 17y ago
  I think it's pretty much SF author Ken Macleod who's labeled it that.
  - theblackbox 17y ago
    Yeah I wasn't too sure of the origin, but it does seem to be an esoteric nomenclature and very specific to SF geeks. Now I'm not saying I'm not an SF geek, but first and foremost I'm an agent of the word and find the ambiguities of such a concept as "The Singularity" alienating for both sides. One can't express it to the other because of it's vastness, and the other can't grasp it because it's a poorly conceived metaphor. Hell, for a mind boggling position on where my doubts are loosely based, read the Quine-Duhem Thesis or The Indeterminacy of Translation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indeterminacy_of_translation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indeterminacy_of_translation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duhem%E2%80%93Quine_thesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duhem%E2%80%93Quine_thesis The first states that the search for "meaning" in language is a dead end, due to the problem of translation (an agonising and paradoxical conclusion to realise). While the second states that no scientific theory (that of "the singularity" for instance) can ever be tested or even contemplated in isolation. All knowledge essentially "faces the tribunal of sense-experience, not alone, but as a cohesive unit". So my primary assumption that "singularity" refers to "black wholes and baby universes" refuses the "singularity meme" to be accepted by my cohesive knowledge web... as ever - food for thought peace

dejb 17y ago

Also it is quite an inconveniently long word. If you strongly agree you are a 'singularitarian' which is a bit of a tongue twister.

CalmQuiet 17y ago
If it actually caught on, surely it would be shortened to "singy" (sin-gee).
sep332 17y ago
It may be long, but this song makes up for it: http://www.transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/more/kamsingsong/ http://www.transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/more/kamsingsong/

jimbokun 17y ago

I believe the media, or more accurately that subset of the media who are even aware of the idea, have labeled it the "Nerd Rapture." Which, whether you find it accurate or not, is definitely a catchier phrase than the "Singularity."

tjic 17y ago
I think it's pretty much SF author Ken Macleod who's labeled it that.
- theblackbox 17y ago
  Yeah I wasn't too sure of the origin, but it does seem to be an esoteric nomenclature and very specific to SF geeks. Now I'm not saying I'm not an SF geek, but first and foremost I'm an agent of the word and find the ambiguities of such a concept as "The Singularity" alienating for both sides. One can't express it to the other because of it's vastness, and the other can't grasp it because it's a poorly conceived metaphor. Hell, for a mind boggling position on where my doubts are loosely based, read the Quine-Duhem Thesis or The Indeterminacy of Translation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indeterminacy_of_translation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indeterminacy_of_translation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duhem%E2%80%93Quine_thesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duhem%E2%80%93Quine_thesis The first states that the search for "meaning" in language is a dead end, due to the problem of translation (an agonising and paradoxical conclusion to realise). While the second states that no scientific theory (that of "the singularity" for instance) can ever be tested or even contemplated in isolation. All knowledge essentially "faces the tribunal of sense-experience, not alone, but as a cohesive unit". So my primary assumption that "singularity" refers to "black wholes and baby universes" refuses the "singularity meme" to be accepted by my cohesive knowledge web... as ever - food for thought peace