Clint O'Dell writes:
>I have described nanotechnology and the future of it as described in Eric
>Drexler's book "Engines of Creation" and most are scared to death of it!
>One young women I spoke with last week knew that it is just around the
>corner just from my description of a working concept, and stated she doesn't
>want to be here when it happens. She knows however it will happen within
>her life time. I'm afraid many people like her and other people I've
>mentioned it to will protest.
>
>Can anyone give me some ideas on how to counter this fear?
You may want to read the section on nanotech that resides in the Transhumanist FAQ on the WTA web site.
To some extent, there may not be much you can do. Nanotech is one of those ideas that takes a period of adjustment to get used to, and springing it on someone totally unfamiliar with techie ideas can jolt someone. Some of its ramifications are quite 'scary', in that they compel you to move out of a comfortable structure of thought into something untested and open-ended. That is one of the reasons it might be good to present general transhumanist ideas first, to provide a basis of reference, then get into nanotech.
Kathryn Aegis