The Christian Transhumanist Podcast

Explore Christianity and Transhumanism, diving deep into the relationship between religion, technology, and the future of the human race—with provocative guests from the leading edges of science and theology.

iTunes email RSS

Ep 11: Singularity & Superheroes

(download)

Micah and Amy discuss the disruptiveness of the Singularity, the creepiness of robots, the awesomeness of superheroes, and the importance of origin stories.

  • Some nerdiness about the [literal mathematical singularities](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singularity_(mathematics)) at the center of black holes
  • vs the metaphorical singularities we will be talking about the rest of the time
  • Moore's Law and the technological singularity
  • Cultural change and the cultural singularity
  • The Intern and the shifting expectations around job and career in a time of accelerating change
  • The images we have in our minds when we talk about the singularity. Mine is a vortex, Amy's is a golden tetrahedron.
  • It's a Wonderful Life, and our images of God. A kid who envisioned God as a slice of pizza.
  • Isaac Asimov, the 3 Laws of Robotics
  • Battlestar Galatica and AI
  • Biomimicry & insectoid vs humanoid robots
  • Plastic, metal, and why the robots of the future will be more biological
  • The transformations of secular transhumanism vs the more extreme transformations of Christianity
  • The uncanny valley and why we're creeped out by dolls and clowns
  • Ultron and why we envision artificial intelligences as sociopaths
  • The assumption that AI can't have compassion
  • Why Stephen Hawking should be working harder on his comedy
  • The singularity as rapture of the nerds, and Ray Kurzweil's coming paradise
  • The creator of Minecraft and living in a world without conflict
  • Alexander the Great lamenting that there were no more worlds left to conquer
  • Heaven is not the end of the road. It's stepping up to the next challenge.
  • Jeanine Thweat-Bates and her talk on cyborgs, superheroes, and the importance of origin stories
  • Blast from the Past and the emotional drive behind Science & Technology
  • Don Miller's Blue Like Jazz, Micah's appearance as an extra, and how you can be the Pope that the world needs now

Ep 11: Singularity & Superheroes
Micah Redding
2015-10-07 19:16:00
01:47:50