I have a hard time introducing this whole area of speculation to non geek friends without boring them or having it sound like scifi or a cult. What I want is to instill a sense of wonder, of the possibilities, in the plainest of language.

Here's my proposal (tweeted at http://twitter.com/#!/elzr/status/63423333345136641 ):

A SINGULARITY: when some old concerns are made a mockery of... and new concerns arise.

(Some examples: trade, language, domestication, writing, steam, computers...)

Some deliberate words: a (= many, not a unique event), some (= not ALL our concerns will be solved), old (= age-old, traditional, human-condition-defining), made a mockery of (less fancy way of phrasing "transcended"), new concerns arise (= this is not utopia).

Inspiration: Historian Ian Morris in the conclusion of his recent _Why the West Rules_ discusses a future singularity from a historic perspective of previous singularities. David Deutsch has this wonderful phrase: "Problems are soluble. Problems are inevitable." And ever since Matt Ridley I consider trade the original singularity.

What's your sentence?