The Singularity is coming this summer to a new course available at Rutgers University. The instructors are father-son duo Ted and Ben Goertzel (respectively), and a cabal of guest speakers will make appearances, including James Hughes, Aubrey de Grey, and Robin Hanson, as well as a variety of other colorful characters, including one possibly from a cartoon. According to H+ Magazine, this is the first-ever accredited college course on the Singularity, although it’s certainly been at least a subject of discussion in college courses before.
Naturally enough, the course will be conducted entirely online, and will feature virtual classroom discussions. All well and appropriate, and I’m actually really thinking of registering, except you still have to “attend” classes two nights a week just like a regular class, and that’s a big time commitment. If only there were some way for me to absorb all that information without all the hassle.
Also of note: the official textbook for this first-ever accredited college course on the Singularity is Ray Kurzweil’s The Singularity Is Near. Which I have it on good it authority makes the course unserious and unacademic, so consider yourself warned.
Futurisms
March 19, 2010