I blogged earlier this week about the launch announcement for Singularity University (and their web site promptly failed due to intense interest – it has since been fixed). Jamais Cascio (a futurist) posits that the curriculum of Singularity University isn’t much to his liking.
I find the name and slogan annoying, but let’s set those aside. I’m mostly astounded — and not in a good way — by the academic tracks. For those of you who haven’t yet ventured into SU’s ivy-covered marble halls, they are:
- Future Studies & Forecasting
- Networks & Computing Systems
- Biotechnology & Bioinformatics
- Nanotechnology
- Medicine, Neuroscience & Human Enhancement
- AI, Robotics, & Cognitive Computing
- Energy & Ecological Systems
- Space & Physical Sciences
- Policy, Law & Ethics
- Finance & Entrepreneurship
The message here? People don’t matter.
The first track is just Singularitarianism 101. The next seven cover technology-based industries — the mix of “here’s what you can invest in now!” with “here’s something that we can imagine” still to be determined. The last one, on “Finance & Entrepreneurship,” gives away the game with its introduction: “…how can we monetize this new knowledge of future technologies?”
Mr. Cascio goes on to suggest an alternative curriculum after noting that Singularity U is still a work in progress.
[Intro:] Future Studies & Forecasting:
With Ray K as the chancellor, you’re not going to get away without a Singularity 101 session — but this doesn’t need to be a full track.- Remaking Our Bodies:
Understanding biotech, radical longevity, and enhancement.- Remaking Our World:
Understanding energy, ecological systems, and nanotechnologies.- Remaking Our Minds:
Understanding neurotech, cognitive systems, and AI.- Power and Conflict:
Emphasizing the role that political choices have in shaping technology.- Scarcity, Trade, and Economics:
How does scarcity manifest in an accelerating tech world? How do you deal with mass unemployment, technology diffusion, leapfrogging?- Demography, Aging, and Human Mobility:
Shifts in population and cultural identity; understanding impact of extending life.- Human Identity and Communication:
Understanding the changing nature of identity in a densely-linked world, looking at how different forms of identity clash.- Governance and Law:
How does governance emerge? How are laws about technology shaped?- Ethics, Morality, and Unintended Consequences:
How ethics emerges in a swiftly-changing environment; morality and technology; precautionary/proactionary principles.- Openness, Resilience, and Models for Dealing with Rapid Transformation:
Open source, open access, open governance; understanding resilience.
I have to be honest – I like the suggested curriculum better than the stated curriculum. Transhumanism is not a mainstream idea. It isn’t a part of most people’s lexicon. The global socioeconomic ramifications of the inevitably of the singularity are massive and could kill billions of human beings. We are talking about socioeconomic shifts that will rock the foundations of our world. Think for a moment of a cyborg Osama bin Laden who can make backup copies of himself. Or imagine how career government positions will change when a career spans 950 years instead of 30. What could a bureaucrat do with all that time? How do we avoid creating societies that restrict longevity technology availability to the elite? Is high penetration and widespread availability of such technology even desirable? How do we ensure that no one clones Brittany Spears or Paris Hilton?
I hope that Singularity University is a massive success and I think the curriculum will have plenty of time to evolve and mature. I’m more excited by the possibilities and the interest than I am disappointed by the initial offering.