Tuesday, September 05, 2006

A large, shirtless man in a pool tells us about the Singularity.



I hope to do a lot better than this at the New Frontiers Symposium . . .
Posted by Mac at 12:49 AM

14 comments:

Paul Kimball said...

Mac:

You had better!

I'm guessing that the singularity that our chubby Aquaman is referring to is the number of times he's been on a date with a real woman, as opposed to the rubber kind that come in boxes.

Paul

1:11 AM
Mac said...

Paul,

Whoa! A little harsh, there! :-)

1:15 AM
Alfred Lehmberg said...

I suspect that this current example of same is a reflex response to anything outside Mr. Kimball's decidedly narrow purview of reality, the intellectually niggard self-limitations he'd contrive to impose on others, or the dawning self-realization that most everything he *knows* is invalid, irrelevant, outdated, insincere, and wrong.

...Or, plump guys get him *hot* and he's just lashing out...

yeah yeah yeah... way harsh... uh huh... I know...

Seriously, I thought the tape was an odd way to provoke discussion about an extremely twitchy subject... ...a subject well supported by scientific graph lines accelerating over time and vertically across _all_ disciplines and protocols... regarding that seeming approach of a historical *denouement* based on burgeoning (also accelerating!) technologies the swimming guy alluded to.

And? And, even effective for that.

Mr. Kimball's easy rejection was abundantly predictable... ...don't you think?

Moreover... a tell-tale, eh?

That said... This "YouTube" is very exciting and I'm gratified to seeing it used in this way.

Hell -- I've made a few myself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWg6OCWyoig

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrUY1QWZfCU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQBxioqtHCA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgp1EBoNDik

Nowhere's it writ large that they have to be good, eh? Just sincere.

"Pool Guy," was sincere, listen-able, and informing... all things in which Mr. Kimball shows decided deficit, dearth, and impugning paucity, imo, explaining his less than favorable... ...forgetting less than constructive, assessment.

Consider. It may be that "PoolGuy" has already reached more persons than you're going to reach via Mr. Kimball's *NFS*, making indication that you'd be better advised to splash around in your _own_ pool for "YouTube", eh?


alienview@adelphia.net
>> www.AlienView.net
>> AVG Blog -- http://alienviewgroup.blogspot.com/

6:57 AM
jezzie said...

Aw...give the guy a break! He was nice, uh, self-depreciating, and uh, honestly, for someone unfamiliar with the, uh, whole Singularity thing, uh, I think he gave a pretty good, uh, basic overview, uh, of what the whole, uh, movement is about.

Nice pool, too.

7:25 AM
Alfred Lehmberg said...

Perhaps a pool owned by a man not experiencing a _lot_ of difficulty with the opposite sex, n'est ce pas?

alienview@adelphia.net
>> www.AlienView.net
>> AVG Blog -- http://alienviewgroup.blogspot.com/

8:40 AM
NullSpin said...

I think it speaks to the traction the concept of singularity is gaining. While our friend seems to be parroting Kurzweil, right down to GNR, how many who address the subject arent?
Interestingly he mentions the crux of the issue being the substrate of 'intelligence' and I would agree of course so would Kurzweil.
On the downside his view of the merging of technoligies is a little limited in light of the presumed sophistication of that union.
All in all the clip makes me optimistic and I will take that over optimystic any day.
ns

9:26 PM
Ray said...

Paul wrote:

I'm guessing that the singularity that our chubby Aquaman is referring to is the number of times he's been on a date with a real woman, as opposed to the rubber kind that come in boxes.

Yowch!

On behalf of all big buys with big hearts, that was -- well, really small, Paul!

Anyway, how is your body mass index lately?

Ray

11:44 PM
Paul Kimball said...

Ray:

Yeah, it was a low blow. What can I say - I was in a snarky mood, and I stepped over the line. My bad.

I still think that the "video" is a waste of Internet space, however. Just because someone can manage to get something on You Tube doesn't mean its worth a listen.

Paul

P.S. My BMI is better than it should be, considering all the junk I shovel into my system, but not as good as I would like.

12:07 AM
Ray said...

Paul:

I know what you mean about going over the line. I'm guilty of the same thing at times, going for a cheap joke about the person instead of commenting on what he's presenting. But sometimes ad hominem humor backfires, ruining the point you're trying to make.

That guy's "chubbiness" doesn't really relate to his social life or to the value of his presentation.

But on those occasions when what the person is saying is a direct expression of an overbearing, pugnacious personality, then I think that snarkiness is allowed. (Not that I have any one person in mind, someone who happens to have the initials AL...)

Best,

Ray

10:49 PM
Mac said...

That guy's "chubbiness" doesn't really relate to his social life or to the value of his presentation.

Oh, I don't know...I kind of liked the "chubby Aquaman" reference. I thought the guy's presentation was, while in no way malicious (or insightful), pretty absurd. That's why I posted it; I think it's worth a laugh.

"Snarkiness" is always allowed on this blog, by the way. The vast majority of readers know it for what it is. And those who don't are easily ignored.

1:53 AM
Ray said...

Mac:

A couple of facts to consider.

1] I use a pseudonym to hide my identity.

2] I might be the fat guy in that video.

Best,

Ray

10:31 PM
Mac said...

I might be the fat guy in that video.

Well, are you?

To be continued...

:-)

12:16 AM
W.M. Bear said...

A large, shirtless man in a pool tells us about the Singularity.

A large, shirtless, likely WEALTHY (that's one hell of a pool, actually) and possibly fundie man -- I somehow got the idea that he was talking out of some kind of hidden agenda that he was working up to in the next episode, especially when he got to the "morality of immortality" bit. Kind of maybe a Jerry Falwell wannabe, I think? But what I really want to know is, if he's so smart AND rich, why can't he afford a videocam that synchs voice with lips?

4:52 PM
Mac said...

That *is* a sweet pool. I suppose I'd hold forth on the Singularity from its comfort too, given the chance.

9:48 PM