Social Singularity

Much has been said about the so called "technological singularity."

The term, coined by mathematician and science fiction author Vernor Vinge, refers to a proposed point in the future when intelligent machines will be able to make themselves more intelligent; setting off a cycle of recursive augmentation resulting in intelligences beyond human comprehension.

While there is healthy debate about the validity of this theory, I think there is something to be said for the obvious and accelerating changes in our day to day lives; especially on the social level.

For instance, I find my frequent personal interaction to be less and less defined by proxemics.

This was painfully obvious to me recently when my neighbors upstairs threw a rowdy rendez-vous. I won't go into too many details, but I did end up chasing a nascent fraternity slob out of the building when he urinated on my door. I ran upstairs to demand satisfaction from my neighbors, and confronted with a hedonistic mob, could not identify who actually lived in the apartment and who had just dropped in for debauchery.

I regularly correspond with friends half a world away and I had never spoken with the people living on the other side of my ceiling.

I must not be the only person to observe this phenomena; now there's a website for people who want to meet their neighbors on-line instead of meeting them in real life.

Meettheneighbors.org provides a free homepage for neighbors to communicate, organize, and (hopefully) avoid unfortunate urination.

This blog will address the more human aspect of accelerating returns, specifically in terms of social networking and how it is changing and will change human interaction through the next century.

I am interested not only in websites that categorize themselves as "social networks," Facebook , Myspace and the like; but any aspect of electronic communication that is changing or could change the way we interact with each other.

Before I regularly used a text messaging service on my cell phone, I was appalled to see people one-thumbing as they barrelled down the highway.

Now I admit I've occasionally squeezed off a, "Be there in two minutes!" while merging. (My obstinate refusal to use text message abbreviations probably makes this even more dangerous.)

Wherever all of this technology is leading us, we're heading there quickly and getting faster.

Many of my posts will come from personal observation and I in no way intend to represent myself as an expert on anything; I am merely an observer embedded in this rapidly unfolding and increasingly complex social fabric.

When possible I will link to reputable research and scientific inquiry; unless cited or linked, I'm pulling it all out of my blog.

-Robot Crusoe