Step 7: The Sea

“We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.”

~G. K. Chesterton

For those of you just joining us, it is imperative that you begin reading The Singularity Blog at Step 1. The theories and techniques put forth by the authors will make little sense if read out of order.

To review, The Singularity is the day robots begin to be capable of building robots superior to themselves. Come that day, Man will immediately be at odds with technology run amok and machines inherently superior to us. And on that day begins an immediate violent struggle for the honor of Master of Earth.

We have told how to prepare for The Singularity, and how to survive through a fleeting glimmer of existence. However, today we tell you how to live and to fight in the long-term. Let us begin with several essential facts:

1. Seawater is a very good conductor of electricity, and even sophisticated electronics short-circuit rapidly upon submersion.
2. Two-thirds of the Earth's surface is covered in water and the majority of lifeforms make their home under the sea.
3. Cool water can serve as both a mask and a shield when hiding from the infrared eyes of our robotic foes both terrestrial and in space.
   
4. Caves were man's first shelter and perhaps the perfect shelter.
5. The sea has many caves.

As we discussed in Step 6: Game Day, come The Singularity you have been making your way slowly to the shores. Ultimately, you should plan to free your raft from your bunker and disappear into the tides.

The true war against The Singularity will be fought at sea.

Your raft is simple, so as to allow constant semi-submersion. While on-watch, only your eyes and brow see the sun. A web of supply dinghies look like floating rubble or dead sea life from the skies. Meanwhile, your heat profile is hidden from prying eyes.

At sea, the robotic foes of The Singularity are most vulnerable in this sea of water. Our planet's oceans were the cradle of life, and as such, our last stand will serve as a homecoming of sorts. The robots will be uneasy in this environment compared to the terrestrial universities and Japan from which they were born. Many robots will be confused or scared by the sea, and will fall victim to its wrath, while man thrives eating sea life and exploring.

By the time robotic eyes have turned elsewhere, you will have hopefully located a good sea cave to call home. The best sort of sea cave is one sealed beneath the waves and fills and empties with the tide. You will fight on the ebb and rest on the flow. They will conclude that your kind vanishes at will as, to them, water looks black and impenetrable. Robots will start legends and myths, rich with stories of the water lurkers. Every human who stands tall will be likened to Poseidon.

Man will feast on lobster and the other bounties of the sea. Some scientists speculate that sea creatures will detect an unbalance in nature and will aid us in our cause. In the shadows of our sea fires, we plot our next move. Writing on the walls of caves, our original literary legacy, we seize every advantage and spare no computer. The planet will never cease to be ours, we only need to reclaim our stake.

Blue will become the Man color. Flares and signals in the darkness will be our call. Congregating in our magnificent sea palaces, we eventually locate the few survivors in the darkness. Our ranks grow and our reserve unflagging. Children will come. They will be strong and fearless. We raise them well and teach them the new histories. We will learn the whale songs, singing of our greatest victories in this ancient tongue. Blowing into our conch trumpets, we prepare for our final stand. The metallic demons above will be algorithmically incapable of expecting our last move.

Checkmate.

This is The Singularity. Our investigations have just begun, for Man cannot be too prepared. However, we have woven the skeleton of how things will happen. Now that our introductions are done, continue with us on this journey. It is a voyage of mind and determination and most of all the will to survive. It is this will that has carried us from the sea to where we are now, and we are poised to become victim of our own greatness.

Without survival you have nothing.

Step 6: Game Day

Scientists, listen up: you may have your theories and your intimate knowledge of the inner-workings of the machines circa The Singularity, however come Game Day (The Singularity), we're willing to bet our bunker that the only thing that will matter that day is cold, hard survival.

That's where we come in.

We'd like to tell you that come Game Day, your only friend is your gun(s), however do not ever forget that they themselves are machines and can never be your friend. Your gun(s) are only a/some servant(s), and should the robots of The Singularity manage to commandeer or "hack" your gun(s), you will begin to realize your fatal error: trust.

We are going to take the approach of preparing for the worst-case scenario, because frankly, that's what The Singularity is always. You need to be prepared to fight with whatever is on hand. That means: empty guns, bows and arrows, swords, pitchforks, and rope. You must be thrifty and brave. The Singularity robots will likely trick you with empty offers of friendship; they may even be so sophisticated as to perfectly replicate the appearance of another person. Fight your instincts and chuck whatever you have in your emergency pouch right for the back (the most likely location of the battery pack -- the central nervous system of a robot).

And let's not forget rocks. Rocks are the lifeblood of the planet and nature's greatest gift in our battle to preserve Her grandeur. Rocks are everywhere. They are heavy, dense, and durable. They are poor conductors and of no interest to robots (*Note: Many rocks contain ore of metals, and would perhaps be of tremendous interest to robots). Speaking of metallic rocks, some rocks are what great men have called "lodestones." They are born deep in the Earth, and as they cool, the Earth's magnetism is locked in their iron core. Little Earths, a lodestone may be the greatest treasure come The Singularity. Recall the importance of knowing magnetism, as otherwise a lodestone may appear to be but a stone. Robots will fall to their hydraulic knees in the face of these stones, and realizing your mastery of magnetism will obey even your most flippant demands. The authors have spent many years collecting lodestones and storing them underground. Mathematically a compass behaves mindlessly within twenty miles of our compound (we are hidden within USGS surveys as simply a "anomalous declination," but come the day of The Singularity we will be a "anonymous detonation").

Now that we've discussed rocks, we can talk about the happy byproduct of collecting them: holes. Robots and computers are notoriously bumbling and unable to look down. No perfect hole algorithm yet exists, we think. We think The Singularity robots will be unlikely to be concerned with such trivial topics. We recommend you learn the art of constructing deep death fall pits lined with punji sticks. Learning the vast expanse of booby traps at your disposal will make you a god among robots after The Singularity. They will be unable to classify or combat your seemingly privative defenses. Even robots of war are only trained in modern combat, which will have no value after The Singularity.

After rocks, holes, and traps, the most important thing you will learn is the importance of avoiding detection. As already mentioned, robots see in the infrared, and of course hiding in cool waters on clear days is the best strategy (as followed religiously by the authors) but we cannot realistically expect all of you to be so cunning. And even we have to be ready for Game Day when we occasionally venture from the cool waters. Keep silver paint within arms reach at all times. Covering yourself in a metallic disguise may be sufficient for fooling more apathetic robots. Also, the metallic paint will alter your albedo, and cause your infrared profile to drop off as your cease to emit light as a true blackbody. However, this effect is minimal; you are mostly trying to look like a robot. Practice speaking their language: binary, hissing, and C++.

Congratulations, if you follow these tips and keep cool, you might just make it through the first day. It goes without saying, that over the course of this day, as you struggle throwing rocks and evading attention, you are the whole time, making your way seawards. Even the most brilliant survivalists will ultimately fall within days as the robots rapidly adapt, and this is a battle that can only be won at sea.

Step 4: Vigilance

Today's post is about many important lessons. But even more than lessons, it's about the government. Let's get a few things straight about the government. The government is a machine, perhaps the largest machine, and THAT, my friends, is why it is NEVER to be trusted if you want to make it to The Singularity plus one day.

The government made the ARPANET, or as you so affectionately know it: The Internet. Or even Web 2.0. The Internet is only ten years old, and already it has doubled in number. Web growth is exponential and uncontrolled! There is no doubt that there is a critical threshold at which point The Internet and its government will have ballooned too far. Our estimates identify Web 4.0 as critical mass, as 4 is a digital number, however, the authors concede that we have no clear indication when the Web will upgrade.

The government has three branches: the legislative, the judicial, and the executive. But is that all? The answer is no. Our lives are instead controlled intimately by a shadowy bureaucracy and a hidden council of elitists conveniently absent from the public view. Many of them reside in Silicon Valley. And guess what's made of Silicon: computers. Is this a coincidence? The answer is no.

What we're getting at is that come The Singularity day, if you are still a slave lamb of the government shadows, then you will be first in line to be slaughtered. The government collects your taxes, your information, even your social security number, and what do you have of theirs? It's time for you to "get off the grid."

But how did we get off the grid. This is how we did it.

First, we disconnected our cell phones, land-line phones, postal address, forged a death certificate, and got OFF the Internet. You may wonder how we have been posting on The Singularity Blog, the answer is we mail every post to our operative. He is a martyr of our cause, and come the day of The Singularity, he will not have fallen in vain.

Second, disguising our identity was key. You will need to grow/shave your beard, and possibly pursue facial reconstruction surgery with one of those anonymous doctors. PAY IN CASH! The authors went to great lengths to mask their physical appearance to all those who once knew us well. At this point, you should be willing to cut all contacts with those still on the grid. Feel free to form communities off the grid, but beware, it only takes one traitor and BOOM you're all back on the grid. The government has loyalists lurking all around us, including in space. That brings us to...

Third, cover everything that faces the sky. The government has dozens of spy satellites that can photograph the ground to frightening resolution. Luckily, infrared cannot penetrate the clouds, but on a clear day, you are best off keeping yourself submerged in a well-shading pond or waterhole. DO NOT LEAVE THE COOL SPOTS.

Fourth, do whatever you can to methodically dismantle all artifacts of the grid where you reside. If you choose the spot for your bunker well (as the authors did with flying colors), then this should be a approachable task. Certain felonies are justified at this point, as you are no longer the grid. More specifically we talk about closing roads and rails that allow access to your life zone. Treat people you encounter with love and respect, as you will all be on the same side come the day of The Singularity.

With any luck, the next census will terrify the government as they face a dramatic transformation, once our species' most vigilant and cautious citizens have blended quietly into the woodwork of the non-mechanized world. Come the day of The Singularity, when robots are spending their days constructing smarter robots, and roaming the Earth that once belonged to man, the survivors will wait patiently in the bush planning his last stand.

Step 2: The Facts

Let's get a couple things straight about The Singularity. Scientists do not know very much about it, except that it will happen and it will either be terrible or bad. Let's review the facts:

• The line between humanity and artificial intelligence will be blurred if not entirely destroyed as robots quickly approach infinite sophistication.
• We're pretty sure that The Singularity will expand the human lifespan indefinitely or to exactly 1024 years, as this is a digital number.
• Scientists may believe that humanity will know we have reached The Singularity the day a computer convinces a human that he is a computer.
• We think that man cannot have too many guns or too few friends come the day of The Singularity. As it comes instantly probably, you must wake up every day, assuming it is now The Singularity. Regard electronics with caution.
• The Internet is a vast worldwide network of computers and phones. If you have trouble imagining the Internet, imagine it as a river that flows between the computer city and the city of man. The fish in the river are like the packets of information. The water quality is like the bandwidth.
• All robots and computers can be destroyed with an effect called The Electromagnetic Pulse (TEMP), hence it is absolutely essential that any post-The Singularity bomb shelter is equipped with an array of microwaves for home protection. Talk to the men at your local Radio Shack or Fry's Electronics about how you can build this home project. If they are confused, show them the plans.
• Computers do not know love but they don't know hate. Any attack on you by a computer is not personal, but rather chillingly procedural.
• Robots cannot reproduce sexually. This is our only advantage, and also our greatest folly.
• Robot servos have been clocked at up to 1200 RPM. It is essential that you keep yourself in a state of impeccable physical shape.
• Many computers are what is called "over-clocked." This is like when a computer does dangerous drugs, but it is ENTIRELY LEGAL!
• Let's not trivialize serious issues for entertainment. Robots on TV and on Battlebot competitions are not like real Singularity robots. They don't think and feel and breathe.
• Learn magnetism while you can, after The Singularity there will be no time and it will be of the greatest importance.
• Many robots see in the infrared spectrum. This makes living and hot things white, and robots black. In the bunker, Cooper and Anthony are working on a solution, but in the mean time, stay cool.