Self, Singularity, Super-Self? On Subjectivity in Super-Connectivity

This article starts from the observation that the self (“I”) appears to be a kind of singularity. It is something that information collapses into. Following this thought, this paper presents the unconventional interpretation of the singularity metaphor as newly emerging, higher-order subjectivity. Its goal is to inquire into the cognition of the emerging higher-order subject and the change in individual units’ subjectivity caused by the transition. First, it asks what kind of superintelligence would emerge in a singularity interpreted in this way. This is important to consider, because it is not all that clear what “superintelligence” means if one goes away from defining it by the complexity of algorithms and lays the focus on subjectivity instead. Then, the paper looks at the individuals that constitute the emergence of superintelligence. First, it analyzes what it would take for human connectivity and intersubjectivity to increase to a singularity threshold. Building upon this, it attempts to analyze how superconnectivity might change the individual agents involved in the process. The thesis is that the extended spatiotemporal perspective of the super-agent is bought by decreased individual self-awareness.