Abstract

Singularity is a future period during which the pace of technological change will be so rapid, its impact so deep, that human life will be irreversibly transformed. This chapter argues that within several decades information‐ based technologies will encompass all human knowledge and proficiency, ultimately including the pattern‐recognition powers, problem‐solving skills, and emotional and moral intelligence of the human brain itself. The Singularity will allow us to transcend these limitations of our biological bodies and brains. Most long‐range forecasts of what is technically feasible in future time periods dramatically underestimate the power of future developments because they are based on the “intuitive linear” view of history rather than the “historical exponential” view. The history of evolution ‐ both biological and technological ‐ is conceptualized as occurring in six epochs. The Singularity begins with Epoch Five and will spread from Earth to the rest of the universe in Epoch Six.