Augmented human minds

Another interview on Philosophy Bites, this time with David Chalmers on the singularity. The singularity describes a scenario in which humans create computers that are slightly more intelligent than ourselves. These computers can then create other computers that are increasingly more intelligent.

A discussion about the singularity rests on careful definitions of intelligence. I think that computers are more intelligent than humans in many respects, albeit in a limited sense of the word.

Nevertheless, I am struck by how such a discussion reanimates many traditional questions in philosophy, epistemological and ethical questions that I often find tedious in their traditional settings, such as the problem of other minds.

On a practical level, though, I am most obsessed with the possibility of augmenting my own human mind and memory by integrating myself more thoughtfully with computer systems. Perhaps it's time to get an iPhone?