Singular Societies

I missed the Q&A with the folks from Ray Kurzweil's Singularity Institute, so I'm posting my questions here.

The singularity sounds different every time it is described.  If we define it as a the emergence of a distinct society based on blurring the line between human and machine intelligence, will that society will emerge spontaneously once a certain level of technology has been achieved, or would it have to be consciously created by people attracted to that idea?  Will there be only one singularity society or multiple?  Will that or those culture(s) eventually encompass all of humanity or just a fraction, and how might those proportions shake out?  Where will this begin first and where will it be most eagerly adopted? Will there be push back against singularity (sub)culture from society as it currently exists?  Will a singularitean society/(sub)culture(s) acknowledge legitimate criticisms of human-computer integration and address valid concerns?  Will the effects of global climate change endanger the emergence of the singularity? why or why not?

For extra credit, show your work.