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George Dvorsky on Singularity 1on1: Specialization is for Insects (part 1)

766 views · Published 24 February 2012 · 9:54 · Indexed 3 October 2026

Channel: Singularity Weblog · 2012 · Science & Technology

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http://www.singularityweblog.com/george-dvorsky-on-singularity-1-on-1-specialization-is-for-insects/

This is my second interview with George Dvorsky.

The first time I had George on Singularity 1 on 1 we ended up talking for 1h 14 minutes. I am afraid that I enjoy his company so much that this time we talked for almost 1h 40min.

During our conversation we discuss issues such as: Dvorsky's agonizing decision to stop being vegetarian and embrace the Paleo diet; cross-fit training, organic farming and the cost of food; the seeming contradiction between transhumanism and paleo/cross-fitness; animal enhancement (aka animal uplift), human-equivalent non-person rights and the list of candidate species; mass extinction and the Fermi paradox; SETI and the Dysonian approach that George and co are suggesting for it; the potential and implications of friendly and unfriendly alien intelligences.

This interview is long but if you are interested in the above topics, then, it is very much worth watching.

The main point that I will take from it is a brilliant Robert Heinlein quote that Dvorsky brought to my attention:

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

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