Music

Music in the Age of Spiritual Machines

by Nikki Olson
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Ray Kurzweil’s 1999 book The Age of Spiritual Machines has a metallic, semi-reflective cover. One way to interpret this stylistic choice has been to think of the cover as a metaphor for the rest of the book in that it is meant to reflect the future of humanity; literally. When looking at the cover, one sees a metallic version of oneself. Kurzweil predicts that we will merge with machines so that the human race becomes a hybridization of man and machine, of biological and non-biological. The cover is a figurative mirror test for human-machine consciousness. When looking at the cover, one sees one’s future self. When Kurzweil first proposed that machines would be spiritual, his view was met with strong criticism. Many academics and theologians rejected the idea altogether, claiming that Kurzweil really didn’t understand spirituality, or, that accepting his [...]

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Post Human Era: Music For The Singularity

by Daniel Finfer
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For the past five years, I have been researching primarily two subjects:  The increasing rate at which technology advances; and the changing music industry.  Ideas slowly started to form during this research, and it hasn’t been until now that I have felt like I fully understood how they might work together in unison.  I am a multi-instrumentalist producer first and foremost, and my projects Post Human Era and Ancient Lasers (with Daniel Anderson of Idiot Pilot) strive to close the gaps between these two areas of research. I was thinking about this: Why do people pay money to download music? Music is almost free whether you like it or not.  It no longer costs thousands of dollars to make a good record, just knowledge and good software.  Trying to fight music piracy and stomp out torrent sites will only make [...]

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Mr. Roboto By The Styx: Is This Singularity Music?

by Socrates
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Check out this classic science fiction music video by the Styx. Made over 3 decades ago, it has some great singularity music and arguably even better and more prescient lyrics because it raises a number of questions related to technology in general and robotics in particular, that are becoming more and more relevant as the singularity approaches… Do you agree that: “[...]The problem’s plain to see Too much technology Machines to save our lives Machines de-humanize [...]“ Mr. Roboto (Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto) Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto Mata ahoo Hima de Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto Himitsu wo Shiri tai You’re wondering who I am (Secret secret, I’ve got a secret) Machine or mannequin (Secret secret, I’ve got a secret) With parts made in Japan (Secret secret, I’ve got a secret) I am the Modern Man I’ve got a secret I’ve [...]

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Charlie Kam: the Very Model of a Singularitarian

by Socrates
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This is by far one of the most hilarious, smartest and most melodic singularity videos that I have seen. If you need a little cheer up to brighten your day just check out Charlie Kam’s Singularitarian version of Gilbert & Sullivan’s “I Am The Very Model of a Modern Major General,” from the Gilbert & Sullivan opera, “The Pirates of Penzance.” Charlie Kam’s I am the very model of a Singularitarian If you want to compare it to Gilbert & Sullivan’s original I Am The Very Model of a Modern Major General check out these 2 hilarious interpretations of it.

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