From: Joshua Fox (joshua@joshuafox.com)
Date: Fri Jul 07 2006 - 07:36:41 MDT
Stephen Hawking has apparently put out a question on the Yahoo Answers
service. For all it's worth, a note on this page says that this is
really Hawking. "How can the human race survive the next hundred
years?" http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=20060704195516AAnrdOD
Whether or not this is for real, and whether or not Hawking reads the
16000+ answers, it is interesting that Hawking has recently spoken out
in other contexts on existential-risk issues relevant to SL4, and he
has a broad philosophical approach that might render him more
receptive to Singularitarian thinking.
If he lends his support to Singularitarianism, this would provide a
tremendous boost to gathering financial and other support. Many people
(like me) who recognize that they don't necessarily have the knowledge
and intelligence to properly evaluate the logical arguments of
Singularitarians, want to also see the endorsement of other thinkers
whom they trust.
It's great that Kurzweil and Bostrom are on SIAI's board, but a top
scientist, someone who is _not_ primarily associated with the
Singularity concept (well, not that sort of singularity) would be an
invaluable addition, whether to the board or just to the ranks of
Singularitarianism supporters.
Joshua
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