Condorcet: The First Singularity Theorist by Mahendra Prasad

While several models of a technological singularity have been created in recent years, the first person to have put forth a singularity hypothesis seems to be 18th century French mathematician/philosopher/revolutionary, Nicholas de Condorcet. While there are many versions of the hypothesis, the basic idea is that rapidly growing knowledge and technology will radically change human economic, political, social, and biological structures. Occasionally, Condorcet has been mentioned as a proto-discoverer of the hypothesis based on his rough descriptions of it in his philosophical work. What goes unmentioned is that in his math research, he actually created a mathematical model for the singularity. Much of Condorcet’s philosophy can be understood as an attempt to figure out how to live lives beneficial to humans in a world with a singularity. But sadly, much of this is unavailable in English because many of his works have not had complete translations. I hope to elucidate Condorcet’s mathematical model of the singularity to encourage translation and study of his important contributions tackling social and ethical issues related to the singularity hypothesis.

Mahendra Prasad was born in Memphis, TN. He grew up on a farm with chickens, quail, horses, goats, and sheep outside of Memphis. He is currently a PhD candidate in political science at the University of California, Berkeley.