The Eschaton Meme

It has been suggested that all the current theorising about the technological singularity is analogous to, if not a direct mimic of, the kind of end of the world predictions that sufface most religious doctrine. For Christians there is the Book of Revelation, for Muslims the Day of Judgement. For Hindus, there is both death and immediate rebirth for the universe courtesy of Shiva. Then there were the Vikings who lived and died against the backdrop of Ragnarök, where the gods go into battle for the last time, the dead wake and the Midgard Serpent eats it own tail; symbolising infinite continuum.

The memetic transfusion of the eschaton appears to know no bounds. It infects even those who pride themselves on being able to see past the constraints of human nature, unsentimentally categorising our behavioural makeup as the product of a series of evolutionary safeguards, designed to keep our genomes safe from extinction.

So what? There's nothing new here... just the emperor's new clothes with computers rather than angels and trumpets. Rapture for the nerds! What is striking is that this form of eschatological immanentisation comes with promises of advanced longevity, if not full blown immortality. Very interesting considering that the momentum of the eschaton meme could probably be attributed to its usefulness as an anti-insanity device, keeping us self-aware mammals safe in the knowledge that we will definitely die.

Makes sense doesn't it? If you see the end of the world as a collective synonym for your own expiration, in every direction you look, then surely nature's want for you to service the proliferation of the selfish gene will be given both emphasis and immediacy. Basically, keeping death front of mind makes you want to get it on... before it's too late.

So the Singularitarians preach the end in much the same way as bible-bashing ministers do. The difference is that they ask you to consider eternal life... not in Heaven, or in Valhalla... but right here.