Vernor Vinge

“I argue in this paper that we are on the edge of change comparable to the rise of human life on Earth.”

“Most civilizations had more fiction than they did real history.”

“How will the approach of the Singularity spread across the human world view?”

“Even the largest avalanche is triggered by small things.”

“But if the technological Singularity can happen, it will.”

“The illusion of self-awareness. Happy automatons, running on trivial programs. I'll bet you never guess. From the inside, how can you?”

“I am suggesting that we recognize that in network and interface research there is something as profound (and potential wild) as Artificial Intelligence.”

“The work that is truly productive is the domain of a steadily smaller and more elite fraction of humanity.”

“Animals can adapt to problems and make inventions, but often no faster than natural selection can do its work - the world acts as its own simulator in the case of natural selection.”

“I have argued above that we cannot prevent the Singularity, that its coming is an inevitable consequence of the humans' natural competitiveness and the possibilities inherent in technology.”

“It is a point where our old models must be discarded and a new reality rules.”

“In fact, there was general agreement that minds can exist on nonbiological substrates and that algorithms are of central importance to the existence of minds.”