Guidelines For Nanotech Safety

aibrahim writes "The Foresight Institute has released its guidelines on molecular nanotechnology. Background information on the dangers from Engines of Creation in the chapters Engines of Destruction and Strategies of Survival. The document describes how to deal with the dangers of the coming nanotech revolution. Among the reccomendations: making the nanodevices dependent on external factors, such as artificial "vitamins" and industry self-regulation. The guidelines were cosponsored with the Institute of Molecular Manufacturing. So, is it enough ? Is it too much ? What measures should be taken to secure our safety during the nanotech revolution?" The Foresight Institute sounds like hubris, but it's got a masthead that fairly drips with smart people, like Stewart Brand and Marvin Minsky. Remind anyone of Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics?

Comments

Re:Asimov's Three Laws

[Kaufmann]

Even if Joy were still a relevant figure in the computer industry nowadays, he still wouldn't be qualified to talk about "the dangers of nanotech" and what we should do about them. His ridiculous article (published on Wired, even!) made that painfully evident.

Richard Feynman once said something to the effect that a scientist is usually just as wrong on non-scientific matters as a non-scientist. The same applies here. The idea that we should mind Bill Joy's crazed rant on nanotech (as opposed to Joe Q. Public's crazed rant on nanotech) just because he's Bill Joy (as opposed to being Joe Q. Public) is a logical fallacy: a clear case of the argument from authority gone haywire.

Ah well.

I have faith in Murphy

[tilly]

People theoretically see the need for lots of nice protections. Then they go ahead and cut corners unless someone has been burned and the memory is fresh.

I cannot think of any area of technology from automobile design to nuclear power plants to office suites where this principle of human nature has not been operational. I can personally list examples from NASA to genetics research to the SNMP spec. (It was nicknamed Security - Not My Problem for a reason!)

IMNSHO anyone who thinks that nano has the potential to be any different is just kidding themselves about human nature...

Cheers,
Ben