Before I state my criticism of your mission, let me say that I respect what you are doing, I think it's incredibly interesting, and I think it adds spice to the world that an organization like the Singularity Institute exists. I think the world is a better place for it, and I respect you very much for spending your time exploring these issues.
That being said, I think the way you state your mission appears a little immature to me and many other people, and I think that very seriously detracts from your credibility. This is very important, because with more credibility you could accomplish many more things that make the world a better place. One of the most important things about scientific research is having a concrete, well defined way to attack a problem you're setting out to solve. People are working on quantum mechanics because there are lots of concrete things they can do and test, and people aren't working on antigravity because they don't know where to begin. Your research is from the "antigravity" category of problems, i.e. problems where we don't really have an attack.
This doesn't mean working on these problems isn't useful, or that you should stop, or that you should spend your time doing something else. It does mean that your research is highly philosophical - it is very interesting intellectually, it has potential to attract great young minds to work on interesting things, and it will likely produce results that will get people thinking in new directions. This is always a good thing. But it also means that you are extremely unlikely to find practical solutions to any of these problems, and it seems that everyone is recognizing this other than you. When you present yourself as an organization that is working on practical problems, instead of intellectually interesting philosophical problems, it becomes very difficult for many intelligent people to take you seriously, and I think it significantly detracts from your goal.
Once again, I think what you're doing is great, I wish more people were doing it, and I sincerely wish you luck and success. I am merely trying to show you how many intelligent people that would otherwise be interested in what you're doing view your organization. Please treat this comment as a constructive argument for changing your marketing. At the very least, think seriously about slightly adjusting the wording of your mission statement. It might get more of the right people interested, which will likely accelerate your work, and make all of us better off for it.
Comments
Before I state my criticism of your mission, let me say that I respect what you are doing, I think it's incredibly interesting, and I think it adds spice to the world that an organization like the Singularity Institute exists. I think the world is a better place for it, and I respect you very much for spending your time exploring these issues.
That being said, I think the way you state your mission appears a little immature to me and many other people, and I think that very seriously detracts from your credibility. This is very important, because with more credibility you could accomplish many more things that make the world a better place. One of the most important things about scientific research is having a concrete, well defined way to attack a problem you're setting out to solve. People are working on quantum mechanics because there are lots of concrete things they can do and test, and people aren't working on antigravity because they don't know where to begin. Your research is from the "antigravity" category of problems, i.e. problems where we don't really have an attack.
This doesn't mean working on these problems isn't useful, or that you should stop, or that you should spend your time doing something else. It does mean that your research is highly philosophical - it is very interesting intellectually, it has potential to attract great young minds to work on interesting things, and it will likely produce results that will get people thinking in new directions. This is always a good thing. But it also means that you are extremely unlikely to find practical solutions to any of these problems, and it seems that everyone is recognizing this other than you. When you present yourself as an organization that is working on practical problems, instead of intellectually interesting philosophical problems, it becomes very difficult for many intelligent people to take you seriously, and I think it significantly detracts from your goal.
Once again, I think what you're doing is great, I wish more people were doing it, and I sincerely wish you luck and success. I am merely trying to show you how many intelligent people that would otherwise be interested in what you're doing view your organization. Please treat this comment as a constructive argument for changing your marketing. At the very least, think seriously about slightly adjusting the wording of your mission statement. It might get more of the right people interested, which will likely accelerate your work, and make all of us better off for it.