In cosmology, the word singularity is used to describe the event horizons created by physical processes so fabulous that essentially no information can be transmitted from them. Among these are black holes, whose gravities do not permit light to escape, and the big bang, before which nothing is knowable.

In either case, these technical uses of the word have human connotations of uniqueness, incomprehensibility and danger. So it is perhaps not surprising that technofuturists and transhumanists see humanity and possibly all of creation hurtling toward something they call the Singularity.

The idea was popularized by San Diego State University mathematician Verner Vinge in the 1990s and given renewed attention in 2005 by the storied inventor Ray Kurzweil with the publication of his book The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology (Viking Adult).

In a precursor article, "The Law of Accelerating Returns," published in 2001, Kurzweil wrote: "Within a few decades, machine intelligence will surpass human intelligence, leading to The Singularity -- technological change so rapid and profound it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history. The implications include the merger of biological and non-biological intelligence, immortal software-based humans, and ultrahigh levels of intelligence that expand outward in the universe at the speed of light."

This millenarian vision of a positive feedback loop of ever-expanding intelligence and organization creates what might be called anti-entropy. When mankind reaches the Singularity, the universe will no longer be dominated by entropy. On the Web, there are sites for supporters of this philosophy, who identify themselves as extropians.