After On: A Novel of Silicon Valley

by Rob Reid

A lowly generalist among brilliant experts will sometimes see patterns that elude the specialists.

should a computer arise that can create a more intelligent, capable, and creative computer than itself…then we will have both reached, and passed, a definitive point of absolutely no return, period, END, ever! We call that point the ‘Omega Point.’ And the hypothetical breakout computer that crosses it, ‘The Omega Computer.’ ”

consciousness is at least as much about ignoring as it is about heeding.”

“Goals are basically cognitive actors. You could almost say they make us conscious!”

“Someone needs to start working on problems when they’re impossible. That’s what gradually makes them tractable. Flight, for instance. Or telecommunications.”

Some campuses are so devoted to tolerance and diversity that no one dares to voice thoughts that clash with the narrow ultraorthodoxy that this devotion dictates.