Ramblings

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My meaning of singularity has nothing to do with how the word is used by people who actually know things about things. For how Singularity is normally used, see the RationalWiki page on Singularity (and even that page does not talk about the physical phenomenon).

A singularity is a proposed ethical imperative that is so strong as to harm, overwhelm or destroy all other ethical structures.

Humans generally make choices based on 1) their interests and 2) ethical constraints. There are a lot of competing interests and many ethical restrains. A person wants to get their work done fast, but they also don't want to hurt other people. Due to the multitude of factors in play, the many interests and ethical considerations generally keep each other in check, resulting in most people being mostly mild personalities.

However, for an individual this can be broken up if an ethical consideration is introduced that vastly supersedes all other interests, considerations or constraints. There are many cults that consider themselves to be the only righteous representatives of God, and who consider everyone who isn't part of the group to Satan's personal demons trying to erode and destroy the cult. To members of the cult, god and the cult are undeniably the only good path in existence. With this, their life and their conscience is on the line, and they will do absolutely anything to protect god and the cult. This opens the door to murder, terrorism and general attacks on everything considered hostile to the cult. These people generally understand murder as something bad, but the defense of god and the cult override all other considerations (not to be confused with Jehovah's Witnesses, who believe all these things but also have the Pacifist doctrine and do not assault people outside of their faith).