The Singularity Asymptote Now

Superhuman Imagination: Vernor Vinge on science fiction, the Singularity and the state (Reason.com)

"It seems plausible,” Vinge says, “that with technology we can, in the fairly near future, create or become creatures who surpass humans in every intellectual and creative dimension. Events beyond such a singular event are as unimaginable to us as opera is to a flatworm."

.....

"But if the Singularity were in prospect for 1,000 years from now, I think that many, including the likes of Ben Franklin, would regard it as the meliorist outcome of all the human striving down the centuries. It’s the possibility that it could happen in the next 20 years that’s scary!"

Interview at Reason.com here.