The Singularity
The Singularity is an important theory in 2012 eschatology. Here are two videos that provide a good introduction.
Vernor Vinge originally coined the term, and the concept was expounded by the likes of Raymond Kurzweil in his book ‘The Singularity is Near‘. The Singularity is a point at which the technological rate of change occurs so rapidly that it initiates an evolutionary jump for humankind, towards a state of super-intelligence or illumination.
Of course, as Steven Pinker noted, “There is not the slightest reason to believe in a coming singularity. The fact that you can visualize a future in your imagination is not evidence that it is likely or even possible. Look at domed cities, jet-pack commuting, underwater cities, mile-high buildings, and nuclear-powered automobiles — all staples of futuristic fantasies when I was a child that have never arrived. Sheer processing power is not a pixie dust that magically solves all your problems.”
Lecturer and drug researcher Terence McKenna notably mapped the moment of Singularity to December 21st 2012:
Counter-cultural genius Robert Anton Wilson provides a very entertaining chronology of the accelerative thrust towards The Singularity:
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