From: Dani Eder (danielravennest@yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Feb 13 2006 - 19:06:16 MST
> Pilot Pirx wrote:
> > Singularitarian goals also require faith, IMO.
> It's two sides of the
> > same coin - the human coin.
The dictionary definition of faith is "a firm belief
in something for which there is no proof".
There is copious evidence that the rate of
technological
and scientific progress has been accelerating over
the last several hundred years. There is good reason
to expect it to continue to accelerate in the near
term:
1. The inherent intelligence of humans is not changing
fast on a time scale of hundreds of years
2. The number of humans is increasing
3. Of those humans, an increasing fraction are
receiving advanced education, leading to more
scientists and engineers
There is plenty of evidence that given a sufficiently
accuate model, a simulation will act much like the
real thing. Therefore even if we can't program
an AI, we should be able to build a model of a
brain that works like the one between your ears.
Sure, there are uncertainties. Maybe improvements
in computers will hit a brick wall before you have
enough power to run an AI. But to claim we are
working on faith, i.e. with no evidence to back
our beliefs, is to ignore all the progress in
science and technology to date.
DRN
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