RE: NOT Peter Singer's Ethics

From: Damien Broderick (thespike@earthlink.net)
Date: Tue Feb 18 2003 - 14:42:16 MST

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    The pdf paper

    http://www.utoronto.ca/jcb/pdf/nanotechnology_paper.pdf

    strikes a familiar tone of weary dismissal at the real implications of
    molecular nanotech, citing that deep genius Gary Stix:

    ======

    Some commentators on NT have examined the implications of NT but have often
    focused on distant, controversial applications. For example, Bill Joy wrote
    an influential and widely discussed paper in Wired magazine [10], about
    'gray goo'. Steven Block, Stanford biophysicist, suggests that much of this
    hype is an illogical extrapolation of current research. 'Nobody has a clue
    how to build a
    nanoassembler, much less get one to reproduce' [11].

    Others have tended to hype the potential applications of NT. Gary Stix, who
    edited a special issue of Scientific American on NT [12], has observed that
    'there has emerged a cult now of futurists who foresee NT as a pathway to a
    technological utopia: unparalleled prosperity, pollution-free industry, even
    something resembling eternal life' [13].

    ========

    Ah well. One wonders how they'd have handled claims for electricity's likely
    benefits back when the frog's leg was twitching.

    Damien Broderick



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