David Brin on "So you want to make gods. Now why would that bother anybody?"

The Singularity Summit 2011 was a TED-style two-day event at the historic 92nd Street Y in New York City. The next event will take place in San Francisco, on October 13 & 14, 2012. For more information, visit:
http://www.singularitysummit.com

• Category

  Science & Technology

[Xuanji Li]

Description: Today he will address the question of how optimistic futurists can most effectively communicate with those who are creeped out by talk of transcendence and life extension

[Michael Lawrence]

Tim Berners-Lee is credited for the invention of the world wide web, which is a network of linked documents (more generally, resources). The internet is network of linked machines. The two are different but often confused.

[3Gyro]

The way to advocate high-tech stuff to Christians is to appeal to their sense of right and wrong, talk about the lives that will be saved and the suffering that will be avoided if certain advancements are embraced.

[timecrashzero]

I don't understand this. He said atheist may not like this, but then argues against religion.

[timecrashzero]

and so should close minded people like yourself

[mdcory3470]

An honest statement of intentions. Playing God seems foolish to me but Brin should know that the real cynics are the ones that tell you that everything is going to be alright.

[Au Bot]

Unfortunately, he didn't give any guidelines (he didn't have the time) on confronting leftist neo-luddites (ultra-environmentalists opposing biotechnology, unions opposing automation etc.) and antiscientific sentiment on the left in general.

[Awakened2Truth]

Little do you know this is an agenda to keep you totally 'controlled' by fooling the masses of sheep by appealing to their emotions/flesh in order to get them under their control. It's called strategies of the international rulers, typical of the controlling oligarchy which will remain in power until the time comes.

People are being fashioned into a foundation of nothing but the End of Mankind at the delusion of self-improvement, when, according to immutable the Law of Entropy, chaos is soon.

[mindfunx]

this shit isnt good. this isnt for the common man. this is for billionaires

[Jotto999]

Sometimes I wonder how much his advise to appeal to their culture will matter given the consistent and tremendous economic drive for better computing and AI (I think it's easy to underestimate just how much drive for better AI there actually is, as one of the speakers explained how the financial world might even be where strong AI comes from). If the singularity was >100 years from happening, his advise would be good, but frankly I don't think it's that far off (not should we be apathetic).