Joined in the last couple of weeks. Been talking about and reading about the singularity for years, just never thought to check Reddit for a sub. (I know, my bad). As for optimism... naturally a cynic and convinced that any given revolutionary tech takes far, far longer to implement and become commonplace than any scientist/writer/prognosticator can possibly account for on a regular basis. Source: See self-driving cars, flying cars, fusion energy. I am hopeful though that at least the last one will happen in my lifetime.