Still, this is impessive. I often search google for answers to questions, and sometimes my incomplete knowledge makes that difficult. Sometimes it can seem as futile as trying to use a search engine to find the name of a song given nothing more than the melody. Enough cleverly chosen keywords might trick google into giving me what I want, but it might not.

I wonder how Wolfram Alpha could possibly overcome this. It cannot read minds. And I don’t believe software can ever know what I mean better than I do. I guess that’s why I don’t belong on a singularity blog.

Perhaps my problem is that I so rarely ask questions with singular answers (pun somewhat intended). To me, such queries are trivial and easily resolved anyway. How many steps in the empire state building? 1,860. Oh. You know, buildings, without exception, eventually fall or are condemned; how long can we estimate the empire state building will stand? Could it stand indefinitely with maintenance? What if maintenance were to hypothetically cease? Wolfram?

If Wolfram Alpha is at all a scary idea to me, it’s only because it would preclude the incidental acquisition of knowledge that comes part and parcel with google’s approach. It paints an image of people who believe they know their gaps in knowledge and believe that there is only one correct way to fill them. That’s antithetical to learning as I’ve always experienced it.

Just kidding. Technology is moving forward, and that is the most important thing. There will always be those who don’t want their profession or job or income stream to become obsolete instead of embracing technological game-changers that will allow them, and everyone else, to make even more money in new ways.