This is the year that the concept of the Singularity began to storm the mainstream. As the concept has been popularised by Ray Kurzweil through his books and documentary, it has acquired legs within the mainstream media. The reasons for this upsurge in interest are obscure, though some of the credit doubtless goes to those who have continued to promote the debate.
It is the concept of the Singularity that has proved more popular than transhumanism. Talk about a geek movement and people unfairly yawn; the arguments of a time when we could become better than we are (or toast!) have a Manichaean attraction.
Furthermore, popular culture has been preparing the way for this possibility of machine outstripping man: think "The Forbin Project", "The Day The Earth Stood Still" and "Terminator". Whatever the underlying sense of wonder for singularitarians, engendered by the eye-widening world where things get faster, faster; we have a generation that can imagine computers better than us. They may not know how we get there, but they are familiar with a destination.
The ideas are now spreading into nooks and crannies previously unfamiliar to us: including the Philippines.
The rate of change is certainly contributing to the instability that we see about us: political economies can now rise and fall within a matter of decades. Look at Brown's client economy in the UK and the current pain in its mild dismantling. God help those politicians when they find that entire model begins to collapse.