| cisler on Wed, 15 Mar 2000 12:00:37 +0100 (CET) |
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| [Nettime-bold] Bill Joy on the threats of technology |
In the current Wired magazine Bill Joy, chief scientist at Sun Microsystems, has the lead piece entitled "Why the future doesn't need us" < www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy_pr.html> wherein he describes his worries about self-replicating technologies: robotics, nano-technology, biotech. It's worth a look because of the credentials of the writer, not because others have not said the same thing. In fact, he comments quite a bit on Ted Kaczynski, as well as Ray Kurzweil and Hans Moravec (both of whom seem to view humans as part of the transition to smart machines that will actually run affairs on earth...and elsewhere). Here is a brief quote: "The nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) technologies used in 20th-century weapons of mass destruction were and are largely military, developed in government laboratories. In sharp contrast, the 21st-century GNR (genetics nanotechnology and robotics) technologies have clear commercial uses and are being developed almost exclusively by corporate enterprises. In this age of triumphant commercialism, technology - with science as its handmaiden - is delivering a series of almost magical inventions that are the most phenomenally lucrative ever seen. We are aggressively pursuing the promises of these new technologies within the now-unchallenged system of global capitalism and its manifold financial incentives and competitive pressures. This is the first moment in the history of our planet when any species, by its own voluntary actions, has become a danger to itself - as well as to vast numbers of others." I'm taking part in a discussion on Wired's future mailing list with a number of other writers, doers, scientists, and I've recommended a few techno-skeptics be included. If anything earthshaking takes place, I'll report back. Meanwhile, the article might be worth discussing here on nettime. Steve Cisler 4415 Tilbury Drive, San Jose, CA 95130 [email protected] http://home.inreach.com/cisler (408) 379 9076 "There are some places where the road keeps going." -Bud Parker. _______________________________________________ Nettime-bold mailing list [email protected] http://www.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold