The rapture for nerds

Hmm

Ellen commented the other day that the Singularity is essentially the nerd equivalent of the Rapture, which is an interesting way of looking at it.

There are some obvious similarities, none of which are particularly flattering:

• Both promise paradise and/or eternal life. In the case of the Singularity, obviously, eternal life is conditional upon reaching the Singularity alive. At the very least, that ought to keep the suicide bombers down to a dull roar.
• Both are used (by people so inclined) as excuses for ignoring real-world concerns. If a miracle is going to happen that will make the world perfect, why should you bother to exercise/save money/work for change? Max More has commented on this. So, on a less serious note, has Patrick Farley.

It occurs to me that there's another similarity, which might be less appealing to many of the Singularity's less thoughtful adherents. A fairly standard (and reasonable) version of the Singularity holds that we'll all be uploaded to computers. A slightly non-obvious consequence of this is that all our memories will be uploaded, and potentially readily searchable. Continuing the religious metaphor, that implies at least the feasibility of a <cue trumpets>Judgement Day.

Not only will any serious crimes in your past be discoverable (so that a fringe benefit of the Singularity should be the solving of a host of previously unsolved crimes), but so will all of your little day-to-day unpleasantnesses. That lunch you stole from the fridge at work, the time you let the air out of your neighbor's tires, and the time you pretended to hold the elevator door but were really pushing the close button, will all be in Google. So too will all of your flimsy rationalizations about those events.

In theory, much like other religions, this ought to motivate adherents of the Singularity to live blameless lives, for fear of having their most secret shortcomings exposed. I have to say that the experience of other religions doesn't inspire me with confidence that this will actually happen.