Eli:
You presented so many intriguing ideas in that diavlog that I can't yet say anything meaningful in response, but I did want to drop by to tell how you how much I enjoyed the diavlog overall. I hope to see you come back to do another one, whether with John or with somebody else.
I do think John interfered with your presenting your ideas with his excessive and somewhat kneejerk skepticism, but perhaps he helped you to make some points in reaction. Anyway, I could tell that you had a lot more to say, and in addition to reading your work, I look forward to hearing you talk about it some more.
I appear today on Bloggingheads.tv, in "Science Saturday: Singularity Edition", speaking with John Horgan about the Singularity. I talked too much. This episode needed to be around two hours longer.
One question I fumbled at 62:30 was "What's the strongest opposition you've seen to Singularity ideas?" The basic problem is that nearly everyone who attacks the Singularity is either completely unacquainted with the existing thinking, or they attack Kurzweil, and in any case it's more a collection of disconnected broadsides (often mostly ad hominem) than a coherent criticism. There's no equivalent in Singularity studies of Richard Jones's critique of nanotechnology - which I don't agree with, but at least Jones has read Drexler. People who don't buy the Singularity don't put in the time and hard work to criticize it properly.
What I should have done, though, was interpreted the question more charitably as "What's the strongest opposition to strong AI or transhumanism?" in which case there's Sir Roger Penrose, Jaron Lanier, Leon Kass, and many others. None of these are good arguments - or I would have to accept them! - but at least they are painstakingly crafted arguments, and something like organized opposition.