The singularity is a point of constantly increasing change (some say infinite). Some here have posted both doomsday and utopia scenarios.

I theorize that the observers of the singularity has a set of rules.

1) The exact point of time of the singularity cannot be observed.

Because we truly can’t define what the singularity is accurately (how does one define infinite change), the observer - no matter how well informed - will not know the event when it occurs.

2) The results of the singularity is unknowable.

The only constant of the singularity is change. Saying it’s doomsday (borgification) or utopia (rapture of the nerds), is only a hypothesis, and with infinite change, it could go from one to the next rapidly.

3) If the observer doesn’t know when an event will occur or the results of the event, then the only observation which can be made is to measure all change.

If something is unobservable, and it’s effects unknown, there is no mechanism other than the rate of change (delta from one minute to the other), but you’d have to measure the rate of change of everything. Which is, of course, near impossible.

Because the observer only observes from their locus (as a point in time able to see a finite amount of space), if the rate of change is high: they will always see the singularity as something in the future. A true “event horizon” where measurements of deltas are “colored” by the amount of space at the unique time.

Unless the observer can observe from multiple loci (multiple points of time and space) only then will they be able to see that the singularity occured (in the past). Right now, it’s a physical impossibility to capture such a measurement, other than an approximation.

But tomorrow, it may be possible due to the fact that infinite change can cause an observer to be a two loci at one time, or measure everything accurately.

Posted here first, then on KurzweilAI.net
Copyright 2006 Bob Kelly