Re: "Fortune"s of "war"

From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Sat Oct 06 2001 - 14:05:17 MDT


Anders Sandberg wrote:
>
> On Fri, Oct 05, 2001 at 01:05:42AM -0700, Samantha Atkins wrote:
> > "Michael M. Butler" wrote:
> > >
> > > Apologies if you've already read this. Not just a puff piece, nor rah-rah.
> > > Takes a look at the economic effects.
> > >
> > > ObExtroContent: The deflationary effects are possibly a taste of
> > > the kind of dislocations "bulk nano" molecular manufacturing might bring.
> > >
> > > http://www.fortune.com/indexw.jhtml?channel=artcol.jhtml&doc_id=204422
> >
> >
> > I don't see what this piece has to do with bulk nano. NT could
> > change so much that it is not particularly relevant whether most
> > people have jobs or not as far as their material standard of
> > living goes.
>
> Well, the original ObExtroContent might have been weak, but the issue of
> nanoeconomics is interesting. Remember that it is unlikely that
> NanoClaus will appear instantly after the first assembler is made, so we
> are going to be looking at an economy in a big transition over a span of
> several years at least.
>

My question was not so much of the fact that the transition from
first assembler to full NT production and economy would be full
of difficulties. What I questioned was that tangent from off
the URL given which is about repurcussions of 911. The two are
very different phenomenon with very different causes and
inherent possibilities. The changes due to increased technology
and its effects in getting from here to there are indeed one of
my favorite
and I believe one of the most significant topics we need to deal
with. But I think it would be better to deal with it on its own
considerable merits without piggybacking on 911 incensed
economic woes.

> I wonder if Francis Fukuyama's thoughts on the industrial-postindustrial
> transition in _The Great Disruption_ would be applicable here? What
> happens when the paradigm shifts occur more and more often, so that the
> system has not the time to settle down?
>

I have only begun to read his work thanks to this reference.
But his views certainly are relevant. The challenge of building
systems that are resilent during constant major changes is
great. I do not think any off-the-shelf current socio-economic
systems are sufficient to the task. It will be a great
discussion topic.

- samantha



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