But every time our ability to access information and to communicate it to others is improved, in some sense we have achieved an increase over natural intelligence.

I have argued above that we cannot prevent the Singularity, that its coming is an inevitable consequence of the humans natural competitiveness and the possibilities inherent in technology.

Another symptom of progress toward the Singularity: ideas themselves should spread ever faster, and even the most radical will quickly become commonplace.

Well, what do you know," Pham said. "Butterflies in jackboots.

He claimed that nearby gun thunder cleared the mind - but most everybody else agreed it made you daft.

I say, let's learn more and then speculate.

When I began writing science fiction in the middle 60s, it seemed very easy to find ideas that took decades to percolate into the cultural consciousness; now the lead time seems more like eighteen months.