From: Mike Linksvayer (ml@gondwanaland.com)
Date: Mon Feb 11 2002 - 14:43:48 MST
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-833691.html
Wolfe divides nanotech mavens into two categories. "There is
a scale that moves from left to right," he said. "There are
the 'cosa nostra,' or the 'mental enthusiasts'--like (Ray)
Kurzweil--the extropians and the transhumanists," and then
there are the down-to-earth folks, trying to "de-nanobot" the
field.
On the more far-out side, one business proposal Wolfe recently
saw involved cryogenically freezing the deceased and bringing
them back with nanobots in the future.
As far as Wolfe is concerned, any technology based on the
"Drexlerian vision of nanotech"--that is, the self-replicating
assembler--should be put in its place.
These far-out ideas should "promote ethical debates and get
people involved," but "investors should not be looking at that
type of thing," he said.
A bit of a slam, but the last paragraph is certainly true for nearly
all investors. Nanodot had an article recently warning that nanotech
funding could disappear quickly if it doesn't meet overhyped short
term expectations a la AI in the 80s:
http://nanodot.org/article.pl?sid=02/02/06/1848253
The ExI link <http://www.extropy.org/extprn3.htm> obtains a 404,
someone ought to make that redirect to the homepage perhaps.
-- Mike Linksvayer http://gondwanaland.com/ml/
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