The dreaded technological singularity

Hey, everyone! Today’s post is for my C1.2 students, which doesn’t mean that the rest of you (C1 all the same) cannot benefit from it.

So, what's this post going to be about? The title says it all, doesn't it? The technological singularity has become a bit of a buzzword, at least in the field of applied sciences. Now that should be interesting to you.

I have already explained in this blog how the English language has incorporated lots of science-related terms into non-technical conversations: quantum leap, momentum, light-years, to resonate, etc. The Big Bang Theory is a hit TV series. So when someone says something like I first chose Chemistry and Biology but soon gravitated towards the performing arts they might not realize that the verb to gravitate originated in the field of Physics as an exclusively technical term. Now it's one of those lexicalized metaphors that we discussed in the previous unit, remember?

My point is: any competent speaker of a foreign language ought to become at least superficially acquainted with some "science-y" jargon. Yes. Even if you are not the STEM type. Think about it. Some form of A.I. has already crept into your day-to-day life, whether it's Siri, Alexa or any of their distant cousins. And it's not only digital voice assistants that you may be used to. The spell check feature on your cellphone, the suggestions on Netflix or Amazon, the social media apps... They are all dependent on some kind of A.I. If you're still not convinced of the ever-increasing importance of technology in our world just consider the very existence of our beloved humankind. It takes but a cursory glance at any list of people who saved millions of lives to realize that all those individuals are somehow connected with technology.

As for the singularity, it is not an absolute certainty (remember the much talked about Y2K?) but there is no denying that it is within the realm of possibility. Those of you mildly interested in the topic may want to check out the video below, which, in a user-friendly manner, discusses some of the most fascinating questions about the impending technological singularity. It's a little longer than the clips I usually post but it pays off in terms of vocabulary. In it you'll see interesting adjectives (far-fetched, unfathomable, subservient), usable collocations (to work feverishly, to fully understand, killer accuracy, computer glitch) and a relatively new word (borg). Enjoy.

Like a knee-jerk reaction

There comes a point in your learning process where you simply leave behind the phase in which you have to think to connect words together. As far as stock phrases go, that tends to happen early. So, even at a basic level, students learn to blurt out How are you? and Where do you live? without thinking about word order or auxiliaries. That is the very essence of fluency. You just know what to say and don't hesitate. So far so good.

At the advanced level, however, you should keep that up in every conversation. Whether you like it or not, most of the things you are going to say have been said before. You were born into a world that already had that huge set of conventions we call "the English language". For writers and poets, self-expression is a different story, but for you, students of English, conventions are an unavoidable stepping stone on your way to mastering the language. So practice combinations, idioms, collocations until they become inevitable. The should be like a visceral, irrational response. Soon you will realize that many expressions leap to mind and you'll have to stop so you can pick the sequence you like best.

Back to the grind

Happy New Year, everyone!

The Christmas break is drawing to its close. We should all get ready to go back to work. For starters I'd like to thank all of you, C1.1 students, who were kind enough to mail me their essays before New Year's Day. My C1.2 will have to turn in a 280-word essay answering the question on page 54 (second bullet point in exercise 5): Are we less violent than we used to? In order to better address the topic you may want to read the text on page 55. The deadline is Jan 16.

More homework. Every student (C1.1 and C1.2) is expected to make a brief oral presentation about some topic you are interested in or passionate about, be it the Greek orthodox church, single-cell organisms, Green Lantern, sesquipedalian nouns, the history of paintbrushes, Malian music, race cars or cosmology (for the record, I'd rather you discussed cosmology than paintbrushes).

One last thing. We're going to be doing lots of micro-exercises so I can collect enough grades to put together the mandatory progress report in February.