David Wood on the Singularity Principles

Socrates /

Posted on: October 8, 2022 / Last Modified: October 8, 2022

The Singularity Principles is a unique, comprehensive, and principled framework for riding the tsunami of change coming our way, instead of drowning in it. It is a one-of-a-kind work written by a person who is singularly qualified with the necessary knowledge, professional experience, and required discipline to produce it.

David Wood is a futurist, catalyst, author, and singularitarian. He has written a total of 11 books and we have already had two rewarding conversations. So, as soon as you finish this fantastic interview you may want to check out our previous ones here: David Wood on Transcending Politics and David Wood on Transhumanism.

During this 2-hour conversation with David Wood, we cover a variety of interesting topics such as the story behind the Singularity Principles; David’s concern we’re losing control over our tech; the greatest danger to humanity; techno-solutionism and the gap between our power and our wisdom; the usefulness of ethics; why the proactionary principle is insufficient; Moore’s Law and Demi Moore’s Law; the Transhumanist and the Singularitarian Stances; the AI Alignment and Control Problems; Wood’s definition of the Singularity; Christopher Columbus’ Quest and the importance of story with respect to AI.

One of my favorite quotes that I will take away from this conversation with David Wood is his definition of the singularity:

The profound change in the human condition triggered by the advent of greater-than-human intelligence.

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunesmake a direct donation, or become a patron on Patreon.

Who is David Wood?

After a roller-coaster career as a pioneer of the smartphone industry – including co-founding Symbian in 1998 – David Wood is now a full-time futurist speaker, analyst, commentator, and writer.

David’s focus is on potential radical transformations in society and humanity – transformations enabled by accelerating technological disruption and mediated by the social and political reaction.

Wood’s background is in designing, architecting, implementing, supporting, and avidly using smart mobile devices. This includes ten years with PDA manufacturer Psion PLC, ten more with smartphone operating system specialist Symbian Ltd, and three years as CTO (Technology Planning Lead) for Accenture Mobility.

David is the author or lead editor of eleven books, the most recent of which is The Singularity Principles. Previous books include “Vital Foresight”, “The Abolition of Aging”, “Smartphones and Beyond”, and “Sustainable Superabundance”.

In 2009 David Wood was included in T3’s list of “100 most influential people in technology”.

In 2010 he was featured in the world’s first Augmented Reality CV.

Alongside David’s consulting activities, Wood is chair of London Futurists – a non-profit meetup organization with over 9,000 members.

David Wood has an MA in Mathematics from Cambridge University and an honorary doctorate in science (DSc) from the University of Westminster.

 

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