The Evolution Of A Consciousness Singularity

The evolution of a consciousness "singularity" Paul Evans The Sapphire Institute This presentation was given at the Toward a Science of Consciousness Conference June 12, 2009: Investigating Inner Experience, Brain, Mind and Technology. The '''Consciousness Singularity''' refers to a hypothetical point of time in the future when human consciousness, at both the personal and species level, experiences an abrupt transition into a collective state of transcendence. The evolution of a consciousness "singularity" as a possible next stage in Julian Jaynes' model of the breakdown of the bicameral mind is detailed in this monumental work. The proposition that consciousness singularity will come about not from the "uploading of consciousness" but will be the result of escalating interaction with machines creating a new kind of mentality even more significant than that created through human use of language is explored. Questions of transhumanism and the seat of the new consciousness: human, human-machine, or machine are addressed.