Singularity Rising: Surviving and Thriving in a Smarter, Richer, and More Dangerous World

by James D. Miller (Author)

35 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-1936661657

ISBN-10: 1936661659

Why is ISBN important?

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Add to List

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Condition: Used - Acceptable

In Stock. Sold by AleCor, Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

26 Used from $6.33

+ $35.48 shipping

Deliver to Finland

1-Click ordering is not available for this item.

Only 3 left in stock (more on the way).

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

This item ships to Finland. Want it Friday, May 22? Choose AmazonGlobal Priority Shipping at checkout. Learn more

5 New from $16.95

+ $35.48 shipping

Deliver to Finland

More Buying Choices

5 New from $16.95 26 Used from $6.33

31 used & new from $6.33

See All Buying Options

In Ray Kurzweil’s New York Times bestseller The Singularity is Near, the futurist and entrepreneur describes the Singularity, a likely future utterly different than anything we can imagine. The Singularity is triggered by the tremendous growth of human and computing intelligence that is an almost inevitable outcome of Moore's Law. Since the book's publication, the coming of the Singularity is now eagerly anticipated by many of the leading thinkers in Silicon Valley, from PayPal mastermind Peter Thiel to Google co-founder Larry Page. The formation of the Singularity University, and the huge popularity of the Singularity website kurzweilai.com, speak to the importance of this intellectual movement.

But what about the average person? How will the Singularity affect our daily lives—our jobs, our families, and our wealth?

Singularity Rising: Surviving and Thriving in a Smarter, Richer, and More Dangerous World focuses on the implications of a future society faced with an abundance of human and artificial intelligence. James D. Miller, an economics professor and popular speaker on the Singularity, reveals how natural selection has been increasing human intelligence over the past few thousand years and speculates on how intelligence enhancements will shape civilization over the next forty years.

Miller considers several possible scenarios in this coming singularity:
• A merger of man and machine making society fantastically wealthy and nearly immortal
• Competition with billions of cheap AIs drive human wages to almost nothing while making investors rich
• Businesses rethink investment decisions to take into account an expected future period of intense creative destruction
• Inequality drops worldwide as technologies mitigate the cognitive cost of living in impoverished environments
• Drugs designed to fight Alzheimer's disease and keep soldiers alert on battlefields have the fortunate side effect of increasing all of their users’ IQs, which, in turn, adds a percentage points to worldwide economic growth

Singularity Rising offers predictions about the economic implications for a future of widely expanding intelligence and practical career and investment advice on flourishing on the way to the Singularity.

Customers who viewed this item also viewed these digital items

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items when the Enter key is pressed. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Ray Kurzweil

653

Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
Nick Bostrom

892

Kindle Edition
$7.97

Customers who bought this item also bought these digital items

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Ray Kurzweil

653

Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
Nick Bostrom

892

Kindle Edition
$7.97
Kai-Fu Lee

599

Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
James Barrat

474

Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Many books are fun and interesting, but Singularity Rising is fun and interesting while focusing on some of the most important pieces of humanity's most important problem.”
—Luke Muehlhauser, Executive Director, Singularity Institute

“The arrow of progress may kick upwards into a booming curve or it may terminate in an existential zero. What it will not do is carry on as before. With great insight and forethought, Miller’s Singularity Rising prepares us for the forking paths ahead by teasing out the consequences of an artificial intelligence explosion and by staking red flags on the important technological problems of the next three decades.”
—Peter Thiel, self-made technology billionaire and co-founder of the Singularity Summit

“We've waited too long for a thorough, articulate, general-audience account of modern thinking on exponentially increasing machine intelligence and its risks and rewards for humanity. Miller provides exactly that, and I hope and expect that his book will greatly raise the quality of debate and research in this critical area.”
—Aubrey de Grey, leading biomedical gerontologist and former AI researcher

“How can we be intelligent about superintelligence? Its finessed agility steers its course through the terrain of analytics and into the salty basin of awareness. It is wise. It is a nonpartisan player. It flirts freely with friendliness. Miller understands this, even if his approach is at times jolting. Singularity Rising, by default, turns the reader to question the true value of intelligence and hopefully realize that it must be found in the bosom of its wisdom.”
—Natasha Vita-More, Chairman, Humanity+; editor, The Transhumanist Reader

“There are things in this book that could mess with your head.”
—Vernor Vinge, computer scientist, Hugo Award-winning author of A Fire Upon the Deep, essayist of "The Coming Technological Singularity"

About the Author

James D. Miller is an associate professor of economics at Smith College and was a speaker at the 2008 Singularity Summit. He has a JD from Stanford where he was on Law Review and a PhD from the University of Chicago where his dissertation advisor was a Nobel Prize winner. He is a columnist for BetterInvesting Magazine and regularly wrote for CNBC.com during the tech bubble. The Singularity Institute called Miller’s work “important” and relevant to its core mission.

Product details

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: BenBella Books (October 16, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1936661659
ISBN-13: 978-1936661657
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Customer Reviews: 35 customer ratings
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,963,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1892 in Social Aspects of Technology
- #599 in Artificial Intelligence (Books)
- #1126 in Biotechnology (Books)

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?

If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

Be the first video

Your name here

Customer reviews

5 star		35%
4 star		25%
3 star		16%
2 star		16%
1 star		8%

How does Amazon calculate star ratings?

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

An exciting look into possible futures

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2017

Verified Purchase

As a transhumanist and a believer in the Singularity, I knew I'd have to read this book. By definition, the Singularity will be beyond our ability to describe or comprehend now, but Miller lays out intriguing scenarios for what life on the human level might be like in such a time.

What I didn't expect was to learn about cryonics. Reading this book was one reason I decided to sign up for cryonic suspension. Indeed I do hope that it will serve as the ambulance ride to the future that proponents claim. But I also figure that a 10^–6 percent chance of being resurrected into an age of unimaginable scientific and technological achievement is better than the guaranteed zero percent if I do nothing.

Helpful

Comment

Mike Haydon

A Different Perspective

Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2013

Verified Purchase

Written from the point of view of an economist, this book is quite different from a more science oriented book such as Ray Kurzweil's.

If this is your first time reading about Singularity, I recommend you read another book first to get a firm grip on the fundamentals. While this book does go into some of the reasoning behind whether or not the Singularity will occur, its primary value is answering the question: "if the Singularity does occur, what does it mean for us and how should we act now in anticipation of it occurring during our lifetime?"

A well written, easy to read, sufficiently balanced look at the Singularity and its personal impact for us.

Helpful

Comment

thegleep

Fanciful

Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2013

Verified Purchase

In my experience predictions of how life will be 50 years in the future are wildly and laughably inaccurate. No doubt computer intelligence will grow, but I don't buy the intelligence "explosion." We are offered the alternatives of Everybody Dies and Utopia Unimaginable, so humankind must be very, very careful to ensure that the new machine intelligence is friendly. If the "explosion" occurs, the machine intelligence will be what it decides to be, notwithstanding man's attempts to ensure it is friendly. The book is entertaining at one level, but a tad over the top.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Donald W. Jordan

Good overview

Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2013

Verified Purchase

A well reasoned look at the varieties of singularity events that could occur. Often, writers that speak of the singularity either deal with it as something that will save humanity from itself, or plunge us into a dystopia or possibly extinction. Instead of approaching this subject as something that should be welcomed or fought against, the author works toward first building a philosophical and historical framework for understanding the singularity, then proceeds in classifying various types of singularities and how they might come about. There are clearly some scenarios that work in the best interest of humanity while others clearly don't, but the author looks at the philosophical and policy issues that need to be addressed today, before it's too late, to guide humanity through then next perilous phase of our technological adolescence.

Helpful

Comment

Mark de Souza

Forward Thinking

Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2014

Verified Purchase

Mr Miller does a great job of continuing the discussion of how our society needs to be looking forward to the future. It has continued to be a serious subject amongst the best engineering minds on the planet but The Singularity needs to become a larger discussion with global citizens. May the outcome of our advancement in Artificial Intelligence truly be for the benefit of mankind.

Helpful

Comment

Brian

Truly a MUST READ book for anyone remotely interested in what the future might bring!

Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2015

Verified Purchase

I can not rave enough about this book. I stumbled across it recently during the final months of nearly three years of research in preparation for writing my own book on the subject. (Well, partly on the subject. I plan to have three parts: first covering much of the basic science required to have an informed opinion on the issue, second on the singularity itself, and third investigating the biochemistry of aging and longevity with practical lifestyle options to increase the odds of the middle-aged living to see a possible utopia.) When I saw that it was written by an economist, it really caught my attention. My own background is in science (computer programming and organic chemistry) and most of the material that I have read on the singularity stems from authors with like backgrounds. I assumed (and my assumption was well justified) that an economist would bring a refreshing and unique perspective to the topic. Economists use mathematical models to predict collective human behavior. The author made good use of such insight in presenting various clear and well-thought-out scenarios involving the complex interactions between society and ever-advancing technology. Usually I find myself reading multiple books over a short time span, but this was a rare exception. From the moment I picked it up, it was the only book that I read until I completed it the following day.

I am very surprised that this book doesn't have an average star rating of five! In looking at some of the negative reviews I see some people complaining about speculative content. Well, of course, any book attempting to look even a single day into the future (let alone a few decades) contains speculative content! That doesn't in any way make it a frivolous endeavor. On the contrary, simply looking at long-standing exponential trends in technology should suggest to most thoughtful people that the time has come to start having these discussions. This book is to some degree an argumentative essay with multiple pathways explored and relative probabilities assessed. No singularitarian can predict exactly when or via exactly what path by which the singularity may come to pass. The merit of a given prediction is determined by the quality of the logic utilized in its construction and the clarity of presentation. In both of these regards, this book was a stunning success! I feel many people that don't give credence to the possibility of a technological singularity miss a very important point. There are many different paths that can get us there. I will postulate that within 100 years (and probably within SUBSTANTIALLY less time than that) one of two statements will hold valid: 1) The singularity (good or bad) has taken place or 2) society as we have come to know it has collapsed (perhaps resulting in the extinction or near extinction of our species). If both of these statements remain false for the next century it will be truly stunning... a total break of so many long-standing historical trends as to stretch the bounds of reason and probability.

I find that my friends that work in the field of computer science are much more amenable to the very real possibility of living to see the singularity. I grew up fascinated by computer technology through the late 70's and 80's during the advent of personal computing. I became a mostly self-taught programmer creating my own video games and performing simple experiments with AI by the time I was in middle school. Like so many budding computer scientists, I saw firsthand the wonders of exponential technological advancement as the power of the machine at my fingertips grew in leaps and bounds every few years with my next purchase or upgrade. I also learned that writing even weak AI was monumentally difficult... although almost certainly technologically feasible! At a very young age, long before I had ever heard the term singularity, the logical conclusion that these two facts would likely some day lead to an intelligence explosion seemed inescapable.

I also find it unfortunate that singularitarianism is often compared to a religion by some of its critics. The few similarities between the two are wholly superficial. Yes, they both proclaim a possibility of a very long or indefinite life (well, many religions do at least), but the methods by which they come to such conclusions couldn't be more different.

The Singularity Rising does an excellent job of presenting logical arguments in support or against various pathways towards the singularity and the possibility of negative or positive outcomes. Although I am personally very optimistic that the singularity will be of a positive variety, I realize that this is certainly not guaranteed. I had heard some of the concerns before, but the author now has me thinking more deeply about some of the finer details that could cause things to go awry. It was profoundly thought provoking.

Perhaps the most unique aspect of the book was a careful analysis of the economic (and societal) effects that different pathways may incur and very specific and practical advice for taking advantage of this foresight. James Miller also makes a very reasoned argument in support of cryonics. I am keeping a close eye on the technology of cryonics. Once we can freeze and unfreeze a brain without destroying the tens of thousands of dendritic connections formed between hundreds of billions of brain cells I will give it serious consideration. Great advances have been made just in the last few years but I don't think we are quite there yet. Some frog species can freeze solid during the winter and then recover to full health because of a natural sugar-based antifreeze that prevents cellular damage. Does anyone know if there have been any studies to see if the recovered frog retains memory? I have not been able to find any data in regards to this. I'm not sure how practical it would be to even test the memory of a frog, but if this is possible and hasn't been investigated, I think it would make for a great research project with obvious cryonic implications.

With respect to the clarity of the book, I would like to point out that the author has a gift for analogy and certainly draws from his teaching experience as a college professor. (I can appreciate the value of analogy with 15 years of teaching experience myself.) I think someone new to the idea of the singularity will benefit from said analogies. I certainly found the economic analogies very useful as this is a field I have a very limited perspective on. I was debating if I should include a chapter in my proposed book on the possible economic effects that pre-singularity nanotechnology will bestow as we enter an age of abundance. I took great comfort to see that most of my ideas of economic impact were also held by the author.

About the only thing missing in the book was a clear background in the technological trends that lay at the heart of the singularity prediction. I am sure that this was purposeful as other books already cover this topic in detail (most notably The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil). Still, perhaps a brief discussion to help set the stage was in order.

I plan to buy a few additional copies of this book to distribute to some of my friends with the request that they pass the book on with like instructions. Society needs to realize that steering technological advancement (to the limited extent that we can do so) is of paramount importance. It may in fact be the most important debate in human history!

Helpful

Comment

Patricia L. Stranahan

Good information for the common folk

Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2013

Verified Purchase

Tough reading in some places.....but, folks need to know about what's on the horizon. Worth the time..... Miller writes concisely and clearly.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

interesting

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2014

Verified Purchase

Sharp point of view, good info about possible causes of singularity happening and not hapening and the consecuences of each

Helpful

Comment

Top international reviews

Translate all reviews to English

Naoaki MAEDA

No problem

Reviewed in Japan on November 27, 2012

Verified Purchase

I satisfied the product and shipment.

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Translate review to English

roy h

Singularity singularly unimpressive

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 25, 2012

Verified Purchase

Not the most insightful of books about the changes that may happen. Disjointed and somewhat self-centred. I knew more myself before I read the book....

2 people found this helpful

Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

You've read the top international reviews

See all reviews from the United States

What digital items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Ray Kurzweil

653

Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
Kai-Fu Lee

599

Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
Nick Bostrom

892

Kindle Edition
$7.97
Ray Kurzweil

459

Kindle Edition
$14.99
Erik Brynjolfsson

856

Kindle Edition
$10.61
Erik Brynjolfsson

217

Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: media's impact

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs	Amazon Advertising Find, attract, and engage customers	Amazon Drive Cloud storage from Amazon	6pm Score deals on fashion brands	AbeBooks Books, art & collectibles	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy

Alexa Actionable Analytics for the Web	Sell on Amazon Start a Selling Account	Amazon Business Everything For Your Business	AmazonGlobal Ship Orders Internationally	Home Services Handpicked Pros Happiness Guarantee	Amazon Ignite Sell your original Digital Educational Resources

Amazon Rapids Fun stories for kids on the go	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services	Audible Listen to Books & Original Audio Performances	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	Box Office Mojo Find Movie Box Office Data	ComiXology Thousands of Digital Comics

CreateSpace Indie Print Publishing Made Easy	DPReview Digital Photography	East Dane Designer Men's Fashion	Fabric Sewing, Quilting & Knitting	Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities

IMDbPro Get Info Entertainment Professionals Need	Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital Publishing Made Easy	Prime Video Direct Video Distribution Made Easy	Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands	Woot! Deals and Shenanigans	Zappos Shoes & Clothing

Ring Smart Home Security Systems	eero WiFi Stream 4K Video in Every Room	Neighbors App Real-Time Crime & Safety Alerts	Amazon Subscription Boxes Top subscription boxes – right to your door	PillPack Pharmacy Simplified	Amazon Second Chance Pass it on, trade it in, give it a second life

Singularity Rising: Surviving and Thriving in a Smarter, Richer, and More Dangerous World

Sorry, there was a problem.

Sorry, there was a problem.

Buy used On clicking this link, a new layer will be open $11.63 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open

Buy new On clicking this link, a new layer will be open $16.95 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open

Customers who viewed this item also viewed these digital items

Customers who bought this item also bought these digital items

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Product details

Related video shorts (0)

Be the first video

Customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top international reviews

You've read the top international reviews

What digital items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Buy used On clicking this link, a new layer will be open

$11.63 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open

Buy new On clicking this link, a new layer will be open

$16.95 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open