From: Ben Goertzel (ben@goertzel.org)
Date: Sat Mar 09 2002 - 21:52:21 MST
Hey all,
Damien is right. I ordered "The Spike" and received it about a week ago.
It was a quick read and, frankly, contained very very little that was new to
me. Which is hardly surprising given how deep I am into this stuff.
However, I thought it was both entertainingly and accurately written (not an
easy combination when dealing with such deep material!!), and I will
recommend it to friends/colleagues/acquaintances who are *not* already
neck-deep into techno-futurism...
One peripheral comment: To me, the term "The Spike" just doesn't have the
*zing* of the term "The Singularity." The "Singularity" term has a lot of
poetry to it: there are many overlapping meanings in there. There's the
mathematical meaning, which is only semi-appropriate; but then there's also
the meaning of "Singular" as in "unique/unusual"... and more.... Plus, my
mind being as twisted as it is, the term "spike" always reminds me of the
Lou Reed song Heroin...
When I put that spike into my vein
Well I tell ya, things aren't quite the same...
\;-p
I predict the "Spike" term will not catch on. However, I certainly hope the
book does; it deserves to!!!
-- Ben G
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-sl4@sysopmind.com [mailto:owner-sl4@sysopmind.com]On Behalf
> Of Damien Broderick
> Sent: Saturday, March 09, 2002 9:04 PM
> To: sl4@sysopmind.com
> Subject: Re: Wednesday's chatlog
>
>
> At 03:25 PM 3/9/02 -0500, Eliezer mentioned:
>
> >http://sysopmind.com/sl4chat/sl4.log.txt
>
> Nice discussion with superBen G.
>
> I hate to whine, but the endless discussion at the end about how we so
> badly need a user-friendly intro to the singularity that we can show our
> friends, oh where oh where, oh why won't someone who knows how to write
> just write one and publish it, oh the transhumanity...
>
> The book exists. As of last month, it's been out there in trade paperback
> from Forge/Tor. It's called THE SPIKE. Buy it and give it to your favorite
> auntie. Well, maybe not. Your favorite teacher or geek pal. (I'm
> not saying
> this for the royalties, pleasant as those are. I spent a lot of effort on
> that book, and I believe it's a good, lively general introduction to a
> range of relevant issues.)
>
> http://www.panterraweb.com/the_spike.htm
>
> Damien Broderick
>
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