by Annette
25. June 2007
I am working on a research assignment for Northwestern University which requires me to fly around and interview leaders in the media and their thoughts on innovation. One interview that still has my brain throbbing was with Ted Shelton, founder of Personal Bee.
Ted is interested in the notion of the singularity. Singularity is popularly understood as a time when the pace of change increases at such a rate that the aggregate of human intelligence is surpassed by the human intelligence being created in that moment. But if you're interested, let him explain it. He'll do a better job.
Whether or not you believe in 'singularity' or the possibility of coming technological attractions, one thing to me seems obvious. The rate of change is not linear, but in fact the rate of change itself is accelerating. Innovations have a faster life cycle than ever before, our feedback mechanisms make research instanteous and we can augment our personal knowledge base in the blink of a key word search. Post-modern life runs faster than at any other time in history.
When I was about five, Seattle experienced a severe earth quake. In my childhood home, my mother grabbed my hand and we flew down 3 flights of stairs to stand in the basement doorway. As she pulled me along, I remember my legs running but only touching down every third or fourth step. Just long enough for my mom's power to propel me to the next level.
I don't suspect the human brain will evolve as fast as the technology around us. Whether or not singularity happens seems somewhat irrelevant. What does matter is our ability to optimize the accelerating change. The human task is to find ways to keep agile - to be mentally alert, insanely curious and find the creative power that exists to learn to race while the earth shakes.
