Charles Stross: The 21st Century FAQ

Interesting, if a bit of a downer, regarding the singularity, particularly since I'm at the moment reading Stross's "Accelerando", which is all about the Singularity happening in the next few decades.

But hey, it's fiction.

Funny that he reckons that in order for a singularity (i.e. emergence of a super-intelligence) to make a difference to 99.99% of us, it needs to be "interested in us" - and suggests that this would be unlucky. I'm not so sure about that.

I read all the Accelerando stories as they came out in Asimov's some years back. To be honest, it's the Accelerando stories that made me begin to tire of SF. And Vinge's Rainbows End capped it off (although its library digitization process is mighty funny).

I'll be happy without a Singularity. And I'll be happy without a complicated smorgasbord of options for how to access and filter a &@^#)!-load of Information in a virtual reality post-cyberpunk world. Geekdom don't put no food on my table. Just ask the near-slave immigrant farm laborers and slaughterhouse workers.

The Singularity might be geek rapture. But VR and Singularity stories are geek wanking. I'm going to go plant a garden. Or become a lumberjack. Or something.

Well, sarcasm aside... I do enjoy Stross's blog when I wander over to it on occasion. So, if I can find some fiction of his which is not so computer-centric, I'll be happy to try it. Recommendations, anyone?