“The Singularity is Near” Thus wrote Ray Kurzweil in his 2005 book with that title. For those not acquainted with the idea of the singularity, Wikipedia describes it as

a hypothetical moment in time when artificial intelligence will have progressed to the point of a greater-than-human intelligence, radically changing civilization, and perhaps human nature.

Yet is is about much more than just artificial intelligence, as proponents talk about human biological enhancement, artificial intelligence,, and brain-computer interfaces. It is a topic people have brought up more often to me since I’ve started wearing Google Glass. Glass is not really a human biological enhancement or a brain-computer interface as imagined by many singularity enthusiasts, but it is wearable computing which enhances the interface between technology and humans.

Kurzweil has a utopian view of the singularity, but others are less optimistic. On New Years Eve, my wife and I finished watching the first season of H+ The Digital Series. It raises questions of competing technologies in the singularity and what role the anti-technologists play. It doesn’t get into the digital divide or the role of large governments that much, although there are concerns raised about large corporations.

Will the singularity be iOS based? Android based? Available to a small group of Linux based hackers? What role will the NSA play? Will they just listen? Will they try to reprogram the singularity? Singularity Free America?

What happens when someone tries to bridge the iOS singularity with the Android singularity. Are characters like Edward Snowden the real world Henry Dorsett Case’s?

Perhaps it is necessary for their to be multiple singularities. In H+ a large group of people get wiped out by a virus which shuts down the predominant implant. In biology, we see these viruses and call for hybrid vigor. WIll we seek such vigor in our singularity?

Maybe that is already happening. The singularity is tied to the information that is being accessed, and we’re already seeing a self selection if we are to believe books like ‘The Filter Bubble’, ‘The Information Diet’, and ‘Rewire’. Perhaps, instead of railing against these information ghettos, we should encourage them as part of Singularity Vigor.