The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology (137 page)

Vlastos, Gregory, 51

Vogel, Viola, 236

voice over Internet protocol (VOIP), 473

voice synthesis, 294–295

Voogd, J., 544
n
, 545
n

voxel (three-dimensional pixel) maps, 285

VPNs (private networks), 256

Vrba, Elisabeth, 511
n

Wade, Nicholas, 510
n

Wagner, Richard, 549
n

Waisman, D. M., 552
n

Walch, Stephen P., 562
n
, 563
n

Wales, University of, 283

Walker, John, 515
n

Wal-Mart, 283

Walsh, Christopher, 505
n

Wang, Chuan-Bao, 567
n

warfare, 300, 330–335, 398, 401, 409

        civil liberties and, 421–422

        death in, 330–331,
331
, 409

        
see also specific wars

war-game simulation, 398, 595
n

Warner Bros., 315

Warwick, Kevin, 194

water, 239, 240, 406

        pattern of, 383

        pollution of, 243

        purification of, 252

        spirituality and, 388

Waterston, Robert, 206
n
, 549
n

Watson, Arthur H., 599
n

Watson, James, 11, 206, 207, 549
n

Watts, Lloyd, 143, 440, 531
n
–532
n
, 537
n
, 545
n

        auditory system model of, 123–124, 147–148, 183–184,
185
, 443, 452, 530
n
, 545
n
–547
n

waves, cellular gliders and, 520
n

wealth, 341, 372, 391

        creation of, 13, 107, 338, 396–397, 410

weapons, 8, 330–335

        bioweapons, 393

        guidance of, 255, 276, 279–280, 413, 435

        of mass destruction, 423–424

        nanotechnology-based, 300, 334–335

        nuclear,
see
nuclear weapons

        simulations of, 280, 334

        smart, 335, 435

weather patterns, 449

Weaver, Kimberly, 503
n

weavers, destruction of cottage industry of, 507
n

Webb, John K., 356, 592
n

Web browsers, 473

Weibel, Peter, 549
n

Weiershausen, W., 516
n

weight gain, prevention of, 11–12, 303

Weinberg, Steven, 500
n

Weiner, H. L., 555
n

Weir, Laila, 586
n

Weis, R., 587
n

Weiss, Rick, 556
n

Weiss, Ron, 221, 555
n

Weizenbaum, Joseph, 312

Weizmann Institute of Science, 118

Welsh, J. P., 544
n

Werblin, Frank S., 186–187, 547
n

Westphal, Sylvia, 553
n

“what-if” experiments, 26

wheel, biological evolution and, 440

Wheeler, John A., 355, 503
n
, 592
n

“When Will Computer Hardware Match the Human Brain?” (Moravec), 122

White, Carter T., 563
n

White, S. R., 589
n

white blood cells, 305

        microbivores as replacement for, 254, 306

Whitehead, Alfred North, 72, 189, 410, 453, 514
n
, 601
n

Whitesides, George, 254, 568
n

Whitfield, John, 541
n

“Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us” (Joy), 391, 394–395, 409, 427

Wiener, Norbert, 86, 268, 382, 518
n
, 593
n

Wiesel, T. N., 173, 542
n

will, freedom of, 382, 521
n
–522
n

Williams, Brian, 281

Williams, Sam, 576
n
, 581
n

Wilson, Arthur, 437

Wilson, D., 584
n

Wilson, E. O., 195

Wilson, Frank A., 509
n
, 543
n

Wimax standard, 346, 432

wind energy, 243, 244, 334

Winerman, Lea, 561
n

Winston, Patrick, 284

Winter, J. O., 587
n

Wired
, 394, 427

wireless communications, 221, 282, 346, 432

        between brains, 316, 585
n

        to Internet, 312, 346

        nanobots’ use of, 163,
233
, 303, 304, 316

        price-performance of, 77,
77

Wisconsin, University of, 115

wisdom, 330, 335, 369

        grandmother hypothesis and, 219, 302

Wise, Kensall, 304, 584
n

Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 312

Wolfram, Stephen, 93, 481, 518
n

        cellular automata and, 85–91, 93, 359, 448, 519
n
–522
n

Woodruff, R. C., 555
n

Woods, C. Geoffrey, 523
n
, 539
n

work, 259

        automation and, 108

        call-center, 287

        categories of, 302, 314

        decentralization of, 105, 122, 340–341

        farm, decline in, 302, 340, 583
n

        GNR impact on, 337–341

        intellectual property and, 339–340

        meaningful, 396

        mental vs. physical, 302

        personal services as, 340

        play vs., 300, 341–342

        role of, 300

World Bank, 2004 report by, 99, 338, 396, 470

World Health Organization, 423

World War I, 330,
331
, 374

World War II, 330, 374, 396, 442

        deaths in, 331,
331

World Wide Web,
17
, 78, 100, 102, 261, 436, 441

        access to, 338, 469

        dangerous information on, 392–393, 395, 594
n

        eBay on, 104

        education and, 336, 337

        experience beamers and, 316

        human longevity and, 325

        mass use of, 20, 42,
50
, 512
n

        virtual environments of, 314, 337, 472

        as worldwide mesh, 312

wormholes, 140, 354–356

Wright, John, 548
n

Wright, Robert, 86–87, 518
n

writing,
17, 18, 20
, 36, 44, 48, 286, 338, 536
n

Wu, L., 553
n

Wurman, Richard Saul, 315

X chromosome, 510
n
, 556
n

xenografts, 418, 598
n

xenoviruses, HIV-type, 418

Xerox, 570
n

        Palo Alto Research Center of, 240, 286

Xerri, C., 542
n

Xiao, Y., 584
n

X inactivation, 510
n

X-ray scattering, 138

Xu, Kaixin, 589
n

xylose, 248

Yamada, T., 564
n

Yan, Hao, 117, 529
n

Yang, R. T., 567
n

Y chromosome, 42, 208

yeast, gene expression in, 283

Yeats, William Butler, 301

Yeltsin, Boris, 406

Yin, Tom, 545
n

Young, E., 184, 545
n

Young, Mike, 283

Young, Richard, 509
n

Young, S. R., 542
n

Yovits, M. C., 535
n

YRUU (Young Religious Unitarian Universalists), 382

Yu, V., 570
n

Yudkowsky, Eliezer S., 35, 498
n
, 597
n

        friendly AI and, 409, 420, 598
n
–599
n

Yurtsever, Uri, 355–356, 592
n

Yuste, R., 541
n

Zakon, Robert, 516
n

Zaks, A., 562
n

Zeck, Günther, 586
n

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
(Pirsig), 392

Zen parable, 312

zeolites, 252

Zeus (Earth-sized computational object), 350, 351

Zhang, L., 552
n

Zhang, Shoucheng, 118–119, 530
n

Zhang, Wei-xian, 567
n

zinc oxide, 252

Zita, Karen, 542
n

zonulin, 163–164

zot, 163–164

Zuse, Konrad, 86, 518
n