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It should happen some time over the next thirty years. Suddenly, something very weird will happen. We will vanish into a maelstrom never experienced by any living creature before: the Technological Singularity. And the really bizarre thing is, we can’t tell you what it’s going to be like. That’s the problem with singularities: they are, by definition, out of reach of our imagination.

There are a few things we can be pretty sure of. Obviously, a thing called 'Technological Singularity' has something to do with technology. It should be dramatic, hefty and sudden. Oh, and you might be interested to hear it should wipe our kind off of the face of the planet.

‘Singularity’ is a word from mathematics. Roughly speaking, it is a place where mathematical order becomes chaotic, where regularity becomes illogical and unpredictable. You cannot even properly call a singularity a ‘place’. It is just that: a singularity. For example, a black hole is a singularity. In it, time collapses and the laws of physics no longer apply.

In the 1950s, mathematician John von Neumann predicted our society is destined to go singularity, too. His line of reasoning was simple: we’re inventing things at an ever faster pace. Faster and faster it goes, until one day, the trend explodes. We will invent new things infinitely fast. We and our inventions will... ehm, go out of control.

Read how novelist and mathematician Vernor Vinge put it in a famous 1993 paper: "This change will be a throwing away of all the previous rules, perhaps in the blink of an eye, an exponential runaway beyond any hope of control." And: "We are on the edge of change comparable to the rise of human life on Earth."

If you think that sounds pretty vague -- we agree. Gladly, Vinge also helpfully pointed out a few ‘omens’ that should announce the Singularity. You can see some of them around already. As Singularity Day comes, computers get ever faster, and huge computer networks arise. More and more tasks are automated. Information and ideas spread ever faster. Slowly, humans will begin to merge with their computers, finding new ways to connect our minds to our computers directly. We might even genetically engineer ourselves, or find other ways to upgrade our intelligence.

And then? Next thing you know, some kind of superhuman consciousness awakens. Out of the computers, and out of us, ‘something’ arises. It is something superhuman; something super intelligent. Before you know it, It begins spewing out ideas and theories, infinitely fast. Also, it finds ways to make these ideas real at a similar, infinite speed.

And after that.. Well, we can’t tell. Perhaps we will leave our bodies. Maybe we will merge with our computers, break down the barriers of our individuality and become a train of thoughts. Maybe we will become a duck-shaped cloud of purple gas, who knows? Maybe we will overcome the restrictions of the dimensions, and become God. Now that would be pretty strange indeed, wouldn’t it?

To us, living beings, the Singularity should be bad news. After all, if Von Neumann and Vinge are right, there won’t be any humans around anymore in 2030. More likely you will find an empty planet. Deserted buildings, empty streets. Perhaps you won't even find a Universe anymore. We even might have terminated the Universe, while going Singularity.

But at least, will it be good or bad? Well -- guess what: we can’t tell. In a Singularity, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ probably will have lost their meaning. Our kind could end up in a state we today-lings would call ‘god-like’. Or, depending on your point of view, ‘insane’.