“ Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Vernor Vinge
“ But every time our ability to access information and to communicate it to others is improved, in some sense we have achieved an increase over natural intelligence. Vernor Vinge
“ I am suggesting that we recognize that in network and interface research there is something as profound (and potential wild) as Artificial Intelligence. Vernor Vinge
“ I have argued above that we cannot prevent the Singularity, that its coming is an inevitable consequence of the humans' natural competitiveness and the possibilities inherent in technology. Vernor Vinge
“ When I began writing science fiction in the middle '60s, it seemed very easy to find ideas that took decades to percolate into the cultural consciousness; now the lead time seems more like eighteen mo… Vernor Vinge
“ It is an edged cliché that the world is most pleasant in the years of a Waning Sun. It is true that the weather is not so driven, that everywhere there is a sense of slowing down, and most places expe… Vernor Vinge
“ Politics is good; when it works properly, disagreements get solved without people beating each other up. But when a regime knows its days are numbered, there's always the chance it may use its positio… Vernor Vinge
“ You are enjoying the gift of genius. When ordinary people are confronted with multiple tragedies, the pain scarcely increases. They simple can't feel the extra burdens. But you have a greater capacity… Vernor Vinge
“ Sometimes the biggest disasters aren't noticed at all - no one's around to write horror stories. Vernor Vinge
“ Sometimes terror and pain are not the best levers; deception, when it works, is the most elegant and the least expensive manipulation of all. Vernor Vinge
“ Sometimes, sitting here in the dark, slowly slowly creating strategy, she wondered if she was only fooling herself to think her plans were clever. Vernor Vinge
“ Technical people don't make good slaves. Without their wholehearted cooperation, things fall apart. Vernor Vinge
“ The illusion of self-awareness. Happy automatons, running on trivial programs. I'll bet you never guess. From the inside, how can you? Vernor Vinge
“ Funny how Underhill could get along with almost anyone, tuning down his manias to whatever the traffic would bear. Vernor Vinge
“ The essence of real creativity is a certain playfulness, a flitting from idea to idea without getting bogged down by fixated demands. Of course, you don’t always get what you thought you were asking f… Vernor Vinge
“ All evil and good is petty before Nature. Personally, we take comfort from this, that there is a universe to admire that cannot be twisted to villainy or good, but which simply is. Vernor Vinge
