A Singular Techno-Savior

Singularitarians Await the Advent of Their Blessed Hope, the Conscious Computer

In Part 1 of this series, “Brainiacs: The Mythical Pipedreams of Transhumanist Tech Execs” (Salvo 62), I explained how materialists—those who believe that nature is all there is and that nothing exists but material stuff—are hoping that science will one day grant immortality to humans. But putting aside the insurmountable problem that consciousness is not material stuff, we also saw that those who place their hope in transhuman immortality through brain uploading recognize that they aren’t even close to having the computer power necessary to save them. However, in their techno hope-springs-eternal world, they trust in a coming superintelligence they call the Singularity! Cue the angel choir!