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Kaarssteun t1_ivfr5g9 wrote

obvious: The singularity is near by Ray Kurzweil

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sticky_symbols t1_ivfwlym wrote

Accelerando by Charles Stross. Fiction but visionary. Particularly the first few chapters, which can be read independently.

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Aevbobob t1_ivfxxyy wrote

Life Force by Tony Robbins, Peter Diamandis, and Robert Hariri

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whattosee t1_ivg4xr7 wrote

Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark

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phoebemocha t1_ivgc9vg wrote

anything of Michio Kaku/Ray Kurzweil

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CDeruiter5963 t1_ivgf3v6 wrote

{{Engines of Creation}} by K Eric Drexler

{{Superintelligence}} by Nick Bostrom

{{The Transhumanist Reader}} by Max More and Natasha Vita More

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abc-5233 t1_ivgf6oy wrote

The Romance of Reality, I find it better that The Singularity is Near, in explaining why the Singularity is happening.

Ray Kurzweil's explanation is "The Law of Accelerated Returns", which is not an actual law. In the book Romance of Reality the author explains that the Singularity is a side effect of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which states that Entropy in a closed system always increases.

That is, on average, systems tend to be more disorganized (increased entropy). The side effect of this universal law, is that there are pockets in the Universe where the exact opposite happens. Stars, planets, are places where entropy decreases, as a law of the universe.

The Singularity is the inevitable result of decreased entropy because we are in a pocket of the Universe where we entered a feedback loop of loss of entropy.

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IDUser13 t1_ivgk334 wrote

Peter F Hamilton’s Commonwealth Saga is ace. Start with Pandora’s Star.

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OakwardTinkerman t1_ivgkh7i wrote

The Future Is Faster Than You Think: How Converging Technologies Are Transforming Business, Industries, and Our Lives by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler. Great for getting your brain on board with the tech acceleration we are living through.

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turnip_burrito t1_ivgrsfp wrote

Replying to abc-5233 (#466,480)

To put it another way, life spreads as much as possible. This means a lot of metabolic activity happens. Any physics/ chemistry activity brings the universe one step closer to heat death. We keep trying to order the world around us more and more. Due to the 2nd law of thermo, this means the universe's net entropy will increase with life, even faster than without it.

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orociock t1_ivgvf19 wrote

A great and short classic: A.Turing Computing Machinery and Intelligence

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TheSingulatarian t1_ivh9rpy wrote

The Singularity is Near for the positive spin.

Our Final Invention for the negative spin.

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Ilovefishdix t1_ivhmcjy wrote

Graeber's BS jobs essay is loosely related to the acceleration in technology and how it's playing out in the workforce. It only takes 5 minutes to read it

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Snap_Zoom t1_ivhuic4 wrote

The Nexus Trilogy by Ramez Naam

Good stuff about where brain augmentation might take us, humanities challenges with AI growth, and much more -

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KGL_NYC t1_ivi2q84 wrote

Post Singular by Rudy Rucker, or anything by Rudy, really.

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doubleemms t1_iviqnpi wrote

Replying to whattosee (#465,902)

hundred percent. i was coming here specifically to mention life 3.0.

it does such a good job of laying out various possibilities for how things might play out (and the relationships and trade offs between the scenarios) in plain, but vivid language.

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HasaniSabah t1_ivjxidq wrote

The Future is Faster Than You Think by Diamandas (I think)

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IlIIlIlIlIIlIIlIllll t1_ivk657c wrote

  • Singularity Is Near - Kurzweil

  • Life 3.0 - Tegmark

  • Superintelligence - Bostrom

  • Human Compatible - Russell

  • Homo Deus - Harari

I've read all the above. It's quite a grind to get through them all. Take your time.

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GraffMx t1_ivkj4h4 wrote

The Sequences Highlights by Yudkowsky Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom

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