The New York Times has published a story outlining the current state of the Singularity and thinking about the Singularity. Worth a read.

Oh, here, from the article, is a short-hand description of the Singularity in case you are unfamiliar with the term in this context.

[The Singularity is] a time, possibly just a couple decades from now, when a superior intelligence will dominate and life will take on an altered form that we can’t predict or comprehend in our current, limited state.

At that point, the Singularity holds, human beings and machines will so effortlessly and elegantly merge that poor health, the ravages of old age and even death itself will all be things of the past.

Some of Silicon Valley’s smartest and wealthiest people have embraced the Singularity. They believe that technology may be the only way to solve the world’s ills, while also allowing people to seize control of the evolutionary process. For those who haven’t noticed, the Valley’s most-celebrated company — Google — works daily on building a giant brain that harnesses the thinking power of humans in order to surpass the thinking power of humans.

Update: If you read the article, you might also enjoy this reaction by Anne Laurie over on Balloon Juice.