The Singularity Is Near

"What, then, is the Singularity? It's a future period during which the pace of technological change will be so rapid, its impact so deep, that human life will be irreversibly transformed. Although neither utopian nor dystopian, this epoch will transform the concepts that we rely on to give meaning to our lives, from our business models to the cycle of human life, including death itself. Understanding the Singularity will alter our perspective on the significance of our past and the ramifications for our future. To truly understand it inherently changes one's view of life in general and one's own particular life." 

--Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity is Near

In 2006, when futurist Ray Kurzweil wrote the above, social media had only just hit the mainstream. Now, ten years later, our daily lives are so completely integrated with technology that it is often difficult to function in the world without our devices, our web-based services, and our media platforms. The rapid development of technology has brought with it many benefits for humanity, but it has also created many new problems for which we do not have quick-and-ready solutions.

We have spent the first part of this course studying moral philosophers from ancient Greece to the present in order to consider how their work may speak to contemporary moral issues. Over the next several weeks, we will use what we've learned from these philosophers to focus on one particular set of issues in our contemporary lives, namely, the relationship between technology and human values. Students will post weekly essays on this blog related to our course content and will work in groups to complete the Technology and Human Values Final Project.

To get to your section of the course, click on the start-time of your class (for example, "9am") in the tabs at the top of this page.