Difference between revisions of "Singularity"
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===Full Title or Meme=== | ===Full Title or Meme=== | ||
A [[Singularity]] is an artifact of continuous mathematical functions that can be taken to the limit, whether very small or very large. | A [[Singularity]] is an artifact of continuous mathematical functions that can be taken to the limit, whether very small or very large. | ||
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| + | ==Prediction== | ||
| + | The first known reference to the [[Singularity]] can from the science fiction author Vernor Vinge in "True Names" and other novels. Later he wrote up his predictions for a Conference. <ref>Vernor Vinge, ''The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era'' (1993) https://edoras.sdsu.edu/~vinge/misc/singularity.html</ref><blockquote> Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended. Is such progress avoidable? If not to be avoided, can events be guided so that we may survive? These questions are investigated. Some possible answers (and some further dangers) are presented.</blockquote> | ||
==Mathematical Context== | ==Mathematical Context== | ||
Revision as of 18:21, 1 April 2024
Full Title or Meme
A Singularity is an artifact of continuous mathematical functions that can be taken to the limit, whether very small or very large.
Prediction
The first known reference to the Singularity can from the science fiction author Vernor Vinge in "True Names" and other novels. Later he wrote up his predictions for a Conference. [1]Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended. Is such progress avoidable? If not to be avoided, can events be guided so that we may survive? These questions are investigated. Some possible answers (and some further dangers) are presented.
Mathematical Context
One of the more complex functions which is visible in the laboratory is fluid-flow formulae which can be made to operate in regions where singularities occur. In the years leading up to 2023 researchers found singular solutions to the Euler equation. Now we have a proof that true, stable singularities can be sustained in specially constructed geometries. Basically the researchers created a boundary between two stable fluid regimes where the singularity was maintained. In these cases neither the mathematics nor the computer simulations are powerful enough to show the actual behavior.[2] Continuous mathematical solutions can only work in the spaces between the infinitely large and the infinitely small. In those regions, the model is no no longer helpful.
This finding is one proof point in the statement All Models are Wrong, click that link for details.
Human Context
Von Neumann was deeply aware of the accelerating pace of progress and the profound implications of this progression for humanity's future, which brings us to the fifth key idea of the information age. A year after von Neumann's death in 1957, fellow mathematician Stan Ulam quoted von Neumann as having said that "the ever accelerating progress of technology and changes in the mode of human life give the appearance of approaching some essential singularity in the history of the race beyond which human affairs, as we know them, could not continue." This is the first known use of the word "singularity" in the context of human history.[3]
References
- ↑ Vernor Vinge, The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era (1993) https://edoras.sdsu.edu/~vinge/misc/singularity.html
- ↑ Don Monroe, Computer-Assisted Proofs take on Fluid Flow CACM 66 No. 8 (2023-08) pp. 12-14
- ↑ John von Nuemann, The Computer & the Brain Yale Univ Press (1958) ISBN 9780300181111
