The Technological Singularity and Merging With Machines

Technological_singularity_michiokakuThe term “singularity,” which is often heard today, comes originally from my field, theoretical physics. It denotes a point in space and time where the gravitational field becomes infinite. At the center of a black hole, for example, we might find a singularity. It also refers to a mathematical term where a certain function also becomes infinite. But the type of singularity that you have probably been hearing about the most lately is called “The Technological Singularity” and although its not a new concept, it’s definitely becoming more of a mainstream topic of conversation.

Countless books on the subject are being published on a consistent basis, and Ray Kurzweil just recently launched his documentary, “The Transcendent Man” which shares his vision of a world in which humans merge with machines and is currently screening in sold-out screenings around the planet, web forums, blogs and video sites.

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XMind wins out over Freemind

After using Freemind for several years, I have been convinced to use XMind. A very interesting set of options is now available to me, but I am moving from freeware to open source, and yes, there is a difference. Anyway, we’re talking about something called “Mind Mapping”:

If you have never used brainstorming-style software, you really should> I like it to organize a set of ideas, or system components, into an ordered, hierarchical graph, or representation. If you have never used such software, you might not even have experience thinking like this.

I also use it to break down classes and their subordinate classes so developers know exactly how to create an EDM, for example. I can go all the way down to class methods & attributes and still not clutter up the diagram. That is because each stem/branch can be collapsed or expanded.

I’m glad already I made the switch, and by the way; XMind imports Freemind files!