Prologue. The power of ideas
The intuitive linear view versus the historical exponential view
Epoch one : physics and chemistry
Epoch two : biology and DNA
Epoch five : the merger of human technology with human intelligence
Epoch six : the universe wakes up
2. A theory of technology evolution : the law of accelerating returns
The life cycle of a paradigm
The S-curve of a technology as expressed in its life cycle
The life cycle of a technology
From goat skins to downloads
Moore's law : self-fulfilling prophecy?
Fractal dimensions and the brain
DNA sequencing, memory, communications, the Internet, and miniaturization
Information, order, and evolution : the insights from Wolfram and Fredkin's cellular automata
Can we evolve artificial intelligence from simple rules?
The singularity as economic imperative
Get eighty trillion dollars, limited time only
Deflation ... a bad thing?
3. Achieving the computational capacity of the human brain
The sixth paradigm of computing technology : three dimensional
Molecular computing and emerging computational technologies
The bridge to 3-D molecular computing
Nanotubes are still the best bet
The computational capacity of the human brain
Accelerating the availability of human-level personal computing
The limits of computation
The limits of nanocomputing
Setting a date for the singularity
Memory and computational efficiency : a rock versus a human brain
Going beyond the ultimate : pico- and femtotechnology and bending the speed of light
4. Achieving the software of human intelligence : how to reverse engineer the human brain
Reverse engineering the brain : an overview of the task
New brain-imaging and modeling tools
The software of the brain
Analytic versus neuromorphic modeling of the brain
How complex is the brain?
Is the human brain different from a computer?
The brain's circuits are very slow
But it's massively parallel
The brain combines analog and digital phenomena
Most of the details in the brain are random
The brain uses emergent properties
The patterns are important
The brain is deeply connected
The brain does have an architecture of regions
The design of a brain region is simpler than the design of a neuron
Trying to understand our own thinking : the accelerating pace of research
New tools for scanning the brain
Building models of the brain
Subneural models : synapses and spines
Modeling regions of the brain
A neuromorphic model : the cerebellum
Another example : Watts's model of the auditory regions
Other works in progress : an artificial hippocampus and an artificial olivocerebellar region
Understanding higher-level functions : imitation, prediction, and emotion
Interfacing the brain and machines
The accelerating pace of reverse engineering the brain
The scalability of human intelligence
Uploading the human brain.
5. GNR : three overlapping revolutions
Genetics : the intersection of information and biology
Can we really live forever?
Reversing degenerative disease
Human cloning : the least interesting application of cloning technology
Why is cloning important?
Preserving endangered species and restoring extinct ones
Human somatic-cell engineering
Nanotechnology : the intersection of information and the physical world
Upgrading the cell nucleus with a nanocomputer and nanobot
Applications of nanotechnology to the environment
Nanobots in the bloodstream
Deep Fritz draws : are humans getting smarter, or are computers getting stupider?
The specialized-hardware advantage
Deep Blue versus Deep Fritz
Significant software gains
Are human chess players doomed?
Military and intelligence
Business, finance, and manufacturing
Manufacturing and robotics
Redesigning the digestive system
Redesigning the human brain
The transformation to nonbiological experiences
The longevity of information
... on warfare : the remote, robotic, robust, size-reduced, virtual-reality paradigm
... on the intelligent destiny of the cosmos : why we are probably alone in the universe
The limits of computation revisited
Expanding beyond the solar system
The speed of light revisited
Changing the speed of light
The Fermi paradox revisited
The anthropic principle revisited
Intelligence as the destiny of the universe
The ultimate utility function
Why intelligence is more powerful than physics
A universe-scale computer
7. Ich bin ein singularitarian
The vexing question of consciousness
The singularity as transcendence.
8. The deeply intertwined promise and peril of GNR
A panoply of existential risks
The precautionary principle
The smaller the interaction, the larger the explosive potential
Our simulation is turned off
GNR : the proper focus of promise versus peril
The inevitability of a transformed future
Totalitarian relinquishment
The idea of relinquishment
Fine-grained relinquishment
The threat from fundamentalism
Development of defensive technologies and the impact of regulation
Protection from "unfriendly" strong AI
Civil liberties in an age of asymmetric warfare
A program for GNR defense
The criticism from incredulity
The criticism from Malthus
Exponential trends don't last forever
A virtually unlimited limit
The criticism from software
Software price-performance
Software development productivity
The ultimate source of intelligent algorithms
The criticism from analog processing
The criticism from the complexity of neural processing
A computer's inherent dualism
The criticism from microtubules and quantum computing
The criticism from the Church-Turing thesis
The criticism from failure rates
The criticism from "lock-in"
The criticism from ontology : can a computer be conscious?
The criticism from the rich-poor divide
The criticism from the likelihood of government regulation
The unbearable slowness of social institutions
The criticism from theism
The criticism from holism
Resources and contact information
Appendix : The law of accelerating returns revisited.
