innerspaceboy

I've been curious about techno-futurism ever since the spark of passion for science fiction was planted within me as a young boy when I first read Isaac Asimov's short story, "The Last Question." I secured the first-ever publication of the story, a holy grail of my library in the November 1956 Vol 4, No 5. issue of the pulp zine, Science Fiction Quarterly. It was Asimov's favorite short story of his own authorship and the first science fiction tale I read which directly inspired a life-long love of the genre. It remains my favorite short story to this day.

Of late I've been riveted by the foundational texts I've been exploring to expand upon the subject of techno-futurism.

I began by reading Mondo 2000's A User's Guide to the New Edge: Cyberpunk, Virtual Reality, Wetware, Designer Aphrodisiacs, Artificial Life, Techno-Erotic Paganism, and More. Mondo 2000 was a glossy cyberculture magazine published in California during the 1980s and 1990s. It was a more anarchic and subversive prototype for the later-founded Wired magazine. The "User's Guide" special edition explores all the hyper-futuristic utopian and dystopian idealism of the year 1992. It is truly a time capsule of techno culture.

The next logical text on the subject is Ray Kurzweil's New York Times best-selling book, The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology (2005). I started a thread on the subject of The AI Singularity and Transhumanism back in 2016 but just now secured a copy of the book.

Kurzweil describes his law of accelerating returns which predicts an exponential increase in technologies like computers, genetics, nanotechnology, robotics and artificial intelligence. Once the Singularity has been reached, Kurzweil says that machine intelligence will be infinitely more powerful than all human intelligence combined. Afterwards he predicts intelligence will radiate outward from the planet until it saturates the universe. The Singularity is also the point at which machines' intelligence and humans would merge. Kurzweil spells out the date very clearly: "I set the date for the Singularity—representing a profound and disruptive transformation in human capability—as 2045".

The Transhumanism Wiki offers a chapter-by-chapter analysis and summary of the 652pp work in an accessible and concise manner. It examines Kurzweil's four postulates and their resulting technological consequences.

https://transhumanism.fandom.com/wik...larity_Is_Near

Also relevant is William Gibson's Neuromancer (1984). Considered one of the earliest and best-known works in the cyberpunk genre, it is the only novel to win the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award. Gibson coined the term "cyberspace" and famously said, "The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed" in an interview on Fresh Air, NPR (31 August 1993).

I understand that there are viable criticisms of Kurzweil's theories, but I find the potential optimism of techno-futurism refreshing in this age of jaded and cynical metamodernity. It would be awe-inspiring to experience the Singularity in my lifetime. I'd welcome your thoughts.

"The future is fun! The future is fair! You may already have won! You may already be there." - The Firesign Theatre



Supplemental note:

One friend recommended Neal Stephenson's sci-fi novel, Snow Crash (1992) as being oddly prescient.

And another introduced me to The 2045 Initiative, an organization working towards Futurism / Artificial General Intelligence / Avatars / Singularity-related technologies and philosophies.

Links I've found for The 2045 Initiative so far:

Their official website: 2045 Initiative

Their concept video from 2012: https://youtu.be/01hbkh4hXEk

Their YouTube channel with latest developments: https://www.youtube.com/@2045Initiative/videos

And they have a presence on Facebook as well.

__________________
The Innerspace Connection | Essential Recordings | Top Archives | Hot 100 Albums | Top 550 Artists