What if we are culturally programmed to refuse singularity? The key in the article is that constructing a higher intelligence will enable us to get to the next

What if we are culturally programmed to refuse singularity? The key in the article is that constructing a higher intelligence will enable us to get to the next level faster - by using our new found capacities. But all we see around us makes it pretty obvious this is not the case. Whatever means we have of improving ourselves, they're woefully underused. We actually have ways to make intellectual work better. Not science fiction, but simply a trip to the pharmacy. They work (there have been several articles on HN about provigil or ritalin), and they can be made safe - they mostly are, all we need are some proper guidelines. But what do we do? We talk about outlawing them. And they are definitely not publicly acknowledged. And before you say that this is not the same: how exactly is it not? Can you imagine a way to improve a human being which would be socially acceptable? Not curing handicaps, but making better for the sake of making better. Just imagine the public reaction if a company offered implantable headphones. Cutting a human for no medical purpose is social suicide. Now of course this can not stop progress forever. But it can make it a good deal slower.