This is a school I’d like to attend.
Singularity University, which will be housed on the NASA Ames base near Mountain View and begin classes in June, is the brainchild of Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis. The two world-renowned scientists were expected to unveil their plans at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference beginning in Long Beach today.
The school hopes to attract students from a cross section of emerging disciplines – including nanotechnology, biotechnology and information technology – to tackle huge issues facing humanity. Pandemics and global health care concerns would be typical in scope and import.
“We are reaching out across the globe to gather the smartest and most passionate future leaders and arm them with the tools and network they need to wrestle with the grand challenges of our day,” said Diamandis, who is perhaps best known for his current work as chairman and CEO of the X Prize Foundation, a group that gives $10 million awards to teams working on breakthroughs in fields such as space travel and genomics. “There is no existing program that will offer the breadth and intensity that SU will offer.”
What’s not to like? I believe the in the concept of a singularity. Here is an explanation of what some people call the Singularity.
At the core of the university’s mission is Kurzweil’s theory of “Technological Singularity,” which theorizes that a number of exponentially growing technologies – such as nanotechnology and biotechnology – will massively increase human intelligence over the next two decades and fundamentally reshape the future of humanity. In his 2005 book, “The Singularity is Near,” Kurzweil famously predicted that artificial intelligence would soon allow machines to improve themselves with unforeseeable consequences.
From my perspective the more energy humanity can devote to this optimist’s outlook on the future, the better of most of us become just around the corner. The catch – you’ll have to be chosen and tuition is steep.
Unlike a traditional university, Singularity will consist of a single, nine-week course of study every summer, during which 120 students from a cross-section of disciplines will mix together to tackle weighty issues. Tuition will be $25,000. Candidates will be chosen mostly from graduate and post-graduate programs around the world.
I’ll be keeping an eye on this program as I’ve spent years daydreaming about what paths I should be following. I want to be involved in efforts like this one. Hell, if all I could qualify for was a janitor job with this outfit I’d be happy. These are my people – the dreamers, the visionaries, the futurists, the explorers, the technologists and the calculated risk takers. Those who embrace change and then work to shape it make me happy.