Here we all are, discussing the Singularity, an event which could be the most momentous step in the history of the human race. Yet somehow it comes out sounding like a cross between a sensational TV documentary and a corny science fiction novel. We just don’t seem to have the right vocabulary. And if we don’t have the right tools, how can we ever hope to comprehend fully what it means for us?
But the situation may not be as bad as all that. I think we already have a software tool that we can use, one that’s been with us for thousands of years. I’m talking about religion and myth. These are the tools that all cultures have utilised for thousands of years when faced with concepts which are at the limit of human understanding.
After all, what are most religions about ? They’re all concerned in one way or another with life after death, with attaining a state where you can finally be “with God”. And that, when you think about it, is not a bad way of describing what the Singularity is really about.