RE: Cryonics/Nanotech Skepticism (Was: Schindler's List)

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doug.bailey@ey.com wrote:

> It seems to have something to do with the implications of
> a technology. The more dramatic the implications of a
> technology are, the more heated (and irrational) skeptics
> can be. Cryonics (the death of death) and MNT (material
> engineering with far-reaching implications for society)
> would have dramatic consequences. Where does this fear of
> dramatic change come from? I'm not sure, maybe an
> anthropologist or psychologist can explain it.

In the second chapter of _Engines of Creation_, Drexler writes,

	"The oldest and simplest mental immune system simply 
	commands 'believe the old, reject the new.'  Something 
	like this system generally kept tribes from abandoning old, 
	tested ways in favor of wild new notions--such as the notion 
	that obeying alleged ghostly orders to destroy all the tribe's 
	cattle and grain would somehow bring forth a miraculous 
	abundance of food and armies of ancestors to drive out
	foreigners." (p.37) 

Nanotech in particular advocates such a radical paradigm shift that this meme would be particularly potent, especially for the uninformed. But a scientific community claims to be dedicated to the idea of advancement, and as Robin pointed out, the most vocal skeptics are from our own scientists. The criticisms are of an odd breed as well, typically either dismissive of the idea as science fiction or critical of Drexler personally.
And why not? Nanotech would render a large sector of that community obsolete (and vie for grants), so there is little reason for career scientists to support a fledgling competitor. Instead of fear of the unknown, danger of obsolescence sets in. The nanotech revolution will be made up mostly of people who are making their life choices now -- high school and college students in biology or chemistry or computer science, people who have little to lose by creating a new and unfamiliar world.

• * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * L. M. Lanford http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~llanford/ [llanford@cs.trinity.edu]

"Materialists and Madmen never have doubts."

                  Gilbert Chesterton

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