http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/feb/28/are-we-already-living-in-the-technological-singularity
A time in which scientific progress engenders a new race of beings that outpaces humans intellectually is completely realistic and conceivable for the future. The projected rate of scientific progress is an exponential graph; the dramatic up-shoot in said graph is what is commonly conceptualized as the singularity. Something fascinating that this article does is proposing a self-fulfilling prophecy centered around the power and influence of science fiction novels. If a device or technology is predicted, it will be theorized about, researched, and eventually, even created. Therefore, any idea that sparks discourse among scientists is quite literally predicting progress. The causality of a single idea to evolve into the singularity demonstrates how malleable and ever-changing we are as a human race. This concept, the one specifying that anything created by science fiction could become closer to reality merely by means of suggestion, is Walter’s law. Another law that governs our existence is the law that humans will do whatever we can to better our group, even if the returns can be short-lived and the process could in fact redefine and damage our identities. This comes from more than a Darwinian force such as natural selection– our romanticized evolution is rooted in human pride and exceptionalism.