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Singularity’s Potential for Sustainability and Environmental Health and Well-Being

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Good Health and Well-Being

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

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In mathematics, a singularity is a point where a function is not well behaved, for example, because it takes an infinite value or is undifferentiable. In physics, black holes are frequently referred to as singularities, because they represent sites where physical laws break down and gravitation becomes, for practical purposes, infinite. “The Technological Singularity,” to which we will refer here as simply “the singularity,” would be an analogous event in technological development. Authors differ on exactly what would define singularity-type development, but most identify it with either the development of super-human intelligence, machine consciousness, or effectively instantaneous technological advancement.

Sustainabilityis similarly broadly defined, but it is commonly associated with the UN World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission), which, referring specifically to sustainable development, defined it as acting in a way to “…meet the needs...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Drake University, Des Moines, IA, USA

    David Courard-Hauri

Authors
  1. David Courard-Hauri
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Correspondence to David Courard-Hauri .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. FTZ-ALS, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences FTZ-ALS, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Centre for Work Related Studies, University of Chester, Chester, UK

    Tony Wall

  3. Ctr Neurosci & Cell Biology, 1 Floor, Univ Coimbra, Edf Fac Medicina, Coimbra, Portugal

    Anabela Marisa Azul

  4. Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo University Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Luciana Brandli

  5. Ozyegin University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Pinar Gökcin Özuyar

Section Editor information

  1. HRCS/COE and RRTTC/CHAS, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA

    Catherine Zeman

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Courard-Hauri, D. (2019). Singularity’s Potential for Sustainability and Environmental Health and Well-Being. In: Leal Filho, W., Wall, T., Azul, A., Brandli, L., Özuyar, P. (eds) Good Health and Well-Being. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69627-0_79-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69627-0_79-1

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