The 9/11 Singularity [ArthurK]

There's a recent concept called a Technological Singularity. To oversimplify it, that's the idea that exponentially accelerating progress in Artificial Intelligence will lead a new world that we can't even begin to comprehend before it happens. The point I want to get across is that when we cross a singularity the stuff on the other side seems weird and incomprehensible based on what we knew before.

On Sept 11, 2001 we passed a cultural singularity. Imagine that you fell asleep on Sept 10 and woke up on Oct 10, 2001 and saw this newspaper front page.

Mirror Oct 10 2001.jpg

In October 2001, I thought about that as I was looking at the front page of the LA Times (I couldn't find a good LA Times front page so the Mirror will have to do.) A man from Sept 10 would have no concept of the world shown on the Mirror's front page! Anthrax? Guys in bio-hazard suits? It's deliberate? The RAF is at war? Wait a minute - backing up US strikes?! Then the US is as war too! A terror war? Fourteen Pages of war coverage!?

This Mirror front page just has 2 stories. The LA Times front page I recall was mostly text and had story after story - None of which made sense to a Sept 10 person.

If you had looked at a paper from Jan 1942 (after skipping a month of existence) you'd see all sorts of stuff about the US involved in WW2 - but WW2 was already running hot a month earlier. The only real surprise would be that US was in it up to its neck.

I was born in 1956. The 9/11 attacks were the most shocking, impactful, non-personal* events of my life. Not the most important event (the end of the cold war, for example, was bigger) but the biggest change.

*I had a massive heart attack a month earlier. That was a personal singularity!

The famous Chinese curse goes, "May you live in interesting times.". Here we are.

(published out of draft by Andy)

Posted by: Open Blogger at 12:00 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Save us Skynet, you're our only hope.

Posted by: GnuBreed at September 11, 2011 12:07 PM (ENKCw)

2 And today, the Liberals are telling us how much we "overreacted" to 3,000 dead in America's streets.

Posted by: CoolCzech at September 11, 2011 12:07 PM (niZvt)

3 CC,

I then ask the liberals if the muzztards 'overreacted' to ? by killing 3,000 civilians. Fucking eunuch pricks...

Posted by: model_1066 at September 11, 2011 12:13 PM (2j/Mv)

4 B. O. is a SCOAMF

Posted by: I'm in a New York state of mind at September 11, 2011 12:13 PM (4sQwu)

5 So does sir putz-a-lot have a wreath he's going to place on Ground Zero to commemorate the 19 hijackers? I wouldn't put it past that America hating shitstain.

Posted by: model_1066 at September 11, 2011 12:15 PM (2j/Mv)

6 I was in law school at the time. Two classes that morning, one taught by a guy who had served in the Korean War. The other by a bearded, pony-tailed sandals and jeanswearing "cool" prof. The vet told us something along the lines of "This is a day you'll never forget. You're preparing to be among this country's leaders for the next few decades. Think about that. Class is cancelled. Go home and call your families, if you haven't already." The cool prof talked for an hour about the Mossadegh coup in 1954, Israel's various shortcomings,Kosovoand, moreoddly still, the Sadinistas. Not that I was around for it. I was informed later. I left his "lecture" after ten minutes.

Posted by: cleaningmygun at September 11, 2011 12:15 PM (iwSVR)

7 The FBI apparently did enough work to be able to pretend to prove the anthrax attack was done by a defense researcher, and then stopped investigating any other possibilities.

I'm tired of all this crap.

Posted by: Abdominal Snowman at September 11, 2011 12:16 PM (qITqt)

8 Back in those days I still bought the daily newspaper, in fact I bought 2 that day. After I got back home in my car I looked over at the front seat where the papers and my bag were lying. It occurred to me that I had never seen anything more utterly useless than those two newspapers.

Posted by: jocon307 at September 11, 2011 12:16 PM (bbVJG)

9 Pearl Harbor seems to me to be very similar to 9/11 in its singularity nature; war off/war on, clearly defined. What is much harder this time is defining an endpoint, if there even is one.

Posted by: GnuBreed at September 11, 2011 12:18 PM (ENKCw)

10 It's kinda like they killed OBL in what's evidently an ISI safe house, where he'd been the last ten years, but we aren't going to do anything to the ISI but throw more money at them.

Posted by: Abdominal Snowman at September 11, 2011 12:19 PM (qITqt)

11
CoolCzech:

Absent most of the morning. Has the Krugman article The Years of Shame been posted to AoS?

Posted by: Fish the Impaler at September 11, 2011 12:19 PM (Lt/Za)

12 For anyone familiar with Strauss and Howe's work, I do believe 9/11 marked the beginning of the Crisis phase of this part of Anglo-American history. According to my calculations The New High phase shall commence around 2019 (I'm betting a Balanced Budget Amendment to the US Constitution will have been at least passed, and maybe even ratified by the needed number of states by then.)

Till then a lot of work remains, but there's never a reason to despair.

Posted by: JB at September 11, 2011 12:19 PM (7T+Mz)

13 We're letting them get away with it, but we're gonna run around shouting about how we killed the figurehead and we're victorious. Meanwhile, we've given Egypt and Libya on a silver platter to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Posted by: Abdominal Snowman at September 11, 2011 12:20 PM (qITqt)

14 I remember reading the comments in a British newspaper years back, and one said (paraphrasing) "Tony Blair should instruct MI5 to vaporize a mosque during services each week, then after a month go on TV to ask what the muslims have done to offend us". Loved it.

Posted by: model_1066 at September 11, 2011 12:21 PM (2j/Mv)

15 To see how some feel when in a "a new world that we can't even begin to comprehend before it happens," go to the NYT website, drill down to find Maureen Dowd's column, and read the comments of most of the upper west side libtards.

They are in shock, shock, I tell you, at what has become of Barry's world.

Posted by: I'm in a New York state of mind at September 11, 2011 12:23 PM (4sQwu)

16 Meanwhile, we've given Egypt and Libya on a silver platter to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Posted by: Abdominal Snowman at September 11, 2011 12:20 PM (qITqt)
Yeah, on that subject: Egyptian protesters pull down Israel embassy wall

Posted by: blue star at September 11, 2011 12:24 PM (11cwq)

17 Fuck Paul Krugman.
...and fuck this SCoaMF and his'Day of Service'.

Posted by: garrett at September 11, 2011 12:25 PM (PqyOZ)

18 As I was toasting my English Muffins, this morning, I looked down, and there it was.

Someone's "Targeting" my Butter.

Should I call Homeland Security?

Posted by: franksalterego at September 11, 2011 12:27 PM (7/sDI)

19 Meanwhile, we've given Egypt and Libya on a silver platter to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Our President is a Muslim / Palestinian Sympathizer.
You'd think they'd be thanking him.

Posted by: garrett at September 11, 2011 12:30 PM (PqyOZ)

20 They are pushing this "9/11 is a day of service" crap at my daughters middle school. 9/11 is NOT a day of service. There are 364 more days in the year for that. 9/11 is a day that islam declared war on civilization. That is what I tell my kids.

Posted by: Osama bin Truck Monkey, TEArrorist Son of a Bitch at September 11, 2011 12:34 PM (jucos)

21 Our President is a Muslim / Palestinian Sympathizer.
You'd think they'd be thanking him.

Very likely they are thanking him.

Posted by: Retread at September 11, 2011 12:35 PM (BO5ap)

22 Fuck Paul Krugman.
...and fuck this SCoaMF and his'Day of Service'.

Posted by: garrett at September 11, 2011 12:25 PM (PqyOZ)
This.As for a "Day of Service"...hubby is at work, fixin' Marine Corps helicopters. So, I'm ironing his shirts.

Posted by: antisocialist at September 11, 2011 12:36 PM (DMvUp)

23
The Curse of Political Correctness

Your neighbor, who has no visible means of support, spends his mornings
at the Starbucks posting edgy Facebook messages with links to Paul
Krugman columns.

-Howie Carr
Boston Herald

Posted by: Fish the Impaler at September 11, 2011 12:37 PM (Lt/Za)

24 O/T, last night, for about 2 minutes, I had Huckabee on and he was going to talk about the video the unions put out targeting tea partiers. He named the "targets", including himself, but did not name Glenn Beck. I changed the channel, but started to wonder if Glenn Beck is now not talked about or named on Fox. I can't remember even Bill O Reilly mentioning him lately. Has anybody else noticed this?

Posted by: chillin the most for Perry at September 11, 2011 12:37 PM (6IV8T)

25 This whole "day of service" crap from Obama has bugged me from the beginning.

Here is the "first black president" telling Americans that they have to (pseudo-voluntarily) do something for others without pay.

And there was not one wrinkling of the nose over this, most noticeably from African American leaders.

You'd think that anything with the whiff of imposed service would be instinctively odious to them.

Posted by: AmishDude at September 11, 2011 12:39 PM (73tyQ)

26 Posted by: model_1066 at September 11, 2011 12:15 PM

I take great offense at your comparison, sir!

Posted by: America Hating Shitstain at September 11, 2011 12:40 PM (p+mzQ)

27 As for a "Day of Service"...hubby is at work, fixin' Marine Corps helicopters. So, I'm ironing his shirts.

Posted by: antisocialist

I salute you.

Posted by: Mindy at September 11, 2011 12:41 PM (o38Nb)

28 Someone's "Targeting" my Butter.Should I call Homeland Security?

By the looks of her, Big Sis has had enough butter already.

Posted by: Ian S. at September 11, 2011 12:42 PM (WXhxA)

29 Well I got another sock banned from Kos yesterday for pretending to be a leftist and suggesting the killing of Bin Laden was meaningless, since Bush bombed the WTC. So, I guess that's progress- 4 years ago, I would have applauded.

Posted by: bernverdnardo at September 11, 2011 12:42 PM (xXhWA)

30 24.....Has anybody else noticed this?----------
I have. It's....strange, isn't it... I have a feeling that we still don't know what was really behind Glenn's departure from Fox. He said one day on his radio show that he finally realized that there was "No honor" in any of his fellow journalists.

Posted by: ConservativeMenAreJustHotter at September 11, 2011 12:43 PM (Sim4P)

31 As for a "Day of Service"...hubby is at work, fixin' Marine Corps helicopters. So, I'm ironing his shirts.
Posted by: antisocialist
Glad to see you are attending to "pressing matters".

Thank your husband for doing his job, for all of us.
Thanks.

Posted by: Reader C.J. Burch writes..... at September 11, 2011 12:43 PM (sJTmU)

32 *would have been applauded

Posted by: bernverdnardo at September 11, 2011 12:45 PM (xXhWA)

33 Posted by: Reader C.J. Burch writes..... at September 11, 2011 12:43 PM (sJTmU)
HeyMr. Burch,have you been by the Firefighter's Memorial at Station 111 yet?
I visited for the first time on Friday and, uh, got something in my eye.

Posted by: ErikW at September 11, 2011 12:47 PM (/bR9I)

34
This whole "day of service" crap from Obama has bugged me from the beginning.

Posted by: AmishDude at September 11, 2011 12:39 PM (73tyQ)

Another annoyance from the Obama twins was their imploring young people to seek employment in government or government supported occupations versus the dreaded and evil private sector. They specifically lampooned Wall Street as evil doers who create little benefit for America, and steal from the poor?

Posted by: Fish the Impaler at September 11, 2011 12:49 PM (Lt/Za)

35 Imagine that you fell asleep on Sept 10 and woke up on Oct 10, 2001 and saw this newspaper front page.

--My first thought would be, "How the hell did I get to England in my sleep?!"

Posted by: logprof at September 11, 2011 12:50 PM (lh7Yc)

36 HeyMr. Burch,have you been by the Firefighter's Memorial at Station 111 yet?
I visited for the first time on Friday and, uh, got something in my eye.
Posted by: ErikW
Good call. I will find time for that today. I may drag along my teenage brats too.
Thanks for the reminder.

Posted by: Reader C.J. Burch writes..... at September 11, 2011 12:51 PM (sJTmU)

37 I have. It's....strange, isn't it... I
have a feeling that we still don't know what was really behind Glenn's
departure from Fox. He said one day on his radio show that he finally
realized that there was "No honor" in any of his fellow journalists.

Posted by: ConservativeMenAreJustHotter at September 11, 2011 12:43 PM (Sim4P)
Glenn has a bit of a persecution complex himself. I'm sure that many times he thought he had the "next big thing" and was angry and frustrated that people at Fox wouldn't agree with him that it was. And I'm sure sometimes he was wrong.

Posted by: AmishDude at September 11, 2011 12:51 PM (73tyQ)

38 >>"It's....strange, isn't it... I have a feeling that we still don't know what was really behind Glenn's departure from Fox. He said one day on his radio show that he finally realized that there was "No honor" in any of his fellow journalists"
You've just reminded me of the sudden mental reaction I had at the time when he said that.

Posted by: Commissioner Gordon at September 11, 2011 12:55 PM (L00d6)

39 I have a feeling that we still don't know what was really behind Glenn's
departure from Fox. He said one day on his radio show that he finally
realized that there was "No honor" in any of his fellow journalists.

It was clear that Hannity never liked him (whether for his own reasons or in solidarity with his human-centipede-mate Levin), and that O'Reilly was using him. I'd be interested to know the real story behind his departure too, because I believe it was anything but amicable.

Posted by: The War Between the Undead States at September 11, 2011 12:56 PM (KxADM)

40 Another annoyance from the Obama twins was their
imploring young people to seek employment in government or government
supported occupations versus the dreaded and evil private sector. They
specifically lampooned Wall Street as evil doers who create little
benefit for America, and steal from the poor?

Posted by: Fish the Impaler at September 11, 2011 12:49 PM (Lt/Za)
And yet Michelle got that fancy nothin' job just by waiving around that Harvard Law diploma.
That's the way they think the world works. You get a fancy degree, you make some contacts with influential people and you become successful.And I guess that's the way it is in their world, but they're trying to impose it upon the rest of us.

Posted by: AmishDude at September 11, 2011 12:56 PM (73tyQ)

41
This whole "day of service" crap from Obama has bugged me from the beginning.Posted by: AmishDude at September 11, 2011 12:39 PM

Yep, my dad, who was drafted into the army in 1946, said to never, ever, ever, not ever volunteer for anything.

Posted by: huerfano at September 11, 2011 12:57 PM (kD+se)

42 "And yet Michelle got that fancy nothin' job just by waiving around that Harvard Law diploma."

It wasn't a "nothing" job.

The University of Chicago Medical Center needed somebody to stand in the hospital door (think George Wallace at the University of Alabama).

What better way to duck their EMTALA obligations than to hire a Senator's wife to send the unwashed indigent to care facilities elsewhere?

Posted by: FRONT TOWARD LEFT at September 11, 2011 01:05 PM (cbyrC)

43 The technological singularity intersects with the social singularity. Every year it is easier to make more advanced and powerful things�including things that can be used for attacks that will kill millions.

If you can imagine a graph of �the resources necessary to kill millions��and �the resources of people who want to kill millions�, the lines haven�t normally crossed. The kind of person who wants to commit such attacks doesn�t have much in the way of resources.

But the line for �resources necessary� is dropping, and in areas we don�t even foresee as killing areas. It isn�t just that it�s easier to make nuclear weapons or biological weapons. The cheapness of flight simulators made it cheaper to learn to fly airliners, and made it so that instructors taught enough people they didn�t necessarily know every student.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at September 11, 2011 01:37 PM (7Ahkq)

44 Many people will no doubt continue to ignore the fact that objectively, most of these terrors are fake or inconsequential. Even the highlighted headline - the Anthrax scare, was largely overblown and not a threat to the general public at large.
The "Could eggs kill your children?!? Stay tuned for our report at 11:00 that could save your life!" phenomenon.
Good advertising. It offers a choice between a false dichotomy: 'WATCH OUR PROGRAM OR DIE'.
Are eggs an actual threat you should be worried about? To put it simply: no.
Sort of like "Continue to occupy an increasing amount of 3rd world crapholes OR have another 9/11 with 3000 dead people". Thatcannot be shown as acausitive relationship, it's purely hypothetical and speculative. You may as well speculate about the presence of alien life.The chance of encountering aliens on any given planet is equal to N*fp*ne*fl*fi*fc*fL.
Where N is an unknown or unquantifiable variable, fp is an unknown or unquantifiable variable, ne is an unknown or unquantifiable variable, fl is an unknown or unquantifiable variable, fi is an unknown or unquantifiable variable, fc is an unknown or unquantifiable variable, and fL is an unknown or unquantifiable variable.
Do the math and it you get the precise number, between 0 and infinity, that perfectly validates your assertion.
But then again, could eggs kill your children? Maybe. Better watch, and better worry, or you might end up dead. There is a chance, albeit smaller than the chance you'll be struck dead where you stand by lightning or mowed over by a drunk driver or given cancer by your neighbor's smoking.
Not many get hysterical about the risk of being killed in a motor accidentevery time they go within 200' of a roadway, they drive to and from work everydayseemingly without any concernwhatsoever. They do not limit their driving in order to limit their exposure to the risk, they think of it is an inconsequential, unavoidableand acceptable level of risk.But a great many get quite hysterical about the precense of substantially smaller risks.

Posted by: Entropy at September 11, 2011 02:40 PM (sDP2b)

45 Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

Posted by: steevy at September 11, 2011 03:40 PM (fyOgS)

46 I was an Arab linguist and PSYOP analyst for the US Army in the mid Eighties. And I also have a degree in Economics. Which is why I considered 9/11 the second most shocking event of my lifetime. I lost more sleep over the financial meltdown of 2008. I knew we would recover quickly from 9/11 and that there was small likelihood of a repeat attack
On the other hand, I thought the 2008 panic was the end of the world; that we wouldn't recover from it in my lifetime.And I'm not sure I've been proven wrong about that .. yet

Posted by: Callmelennie at September 11, 2011 03:55 PM (GOsSG)

47 Like a lot of conservatives, the thing which has shocked me over the past ten years, and which continues to shock me, is the sheer hatred of America held by liberals.

I think rooting that out will be an order of magnitude harder than stamping out Islamist violence.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 11, 2011 09:24 PM (/7xxR)

48 Pipe fitting
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Posted by: jason at September 12, 2011 01:48 AM (ab3S1)

49 This whole "day of service" crap from Obama has bugged me from the beginning.

Here
is the "first black president" telling Americans that they have to
(pseudo-voluntarily) do something for others without pay.

And there was not one wrinkling of the nose over this, most noticeably from African American leaders.

You'd think that anything with the whiff of imposed service would be instinctively odious to them.

Posted by: AmishDude at September 11, 2011 12:39 PM (73tyQ)
=====

It would have been pure outrage had this come from a conservative President. I remember such from the Left when Dubya came up with something along those lines. Maybe someone has a link showing their (the Left's) hypocrisy?
It's just like their resistance to the GWOT: so much of their disdain for all these 'horrible things' disappeared like a fart in a windstorm when Chairman Zero was elected.

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