To Write the Singularity: Literature, Technology, and the Myth of Transcendence

The Singularity is a future time when societal, scientific and economic change is so fast we cannot even imagine what will happen from our present perspective. With the rush of new technologies and the rhetoric surrounding the Singularity, cultural critics and science fiction authors retract in fear of the future; instead of risking speculation into the future, many writers retreat into the contemporary world or the past. The future is growing into a cultural wasteland filled with the speculations of scientists without an accompanying cultural discussion. Writing the Singularity allows us to analyze it and address its dangers.