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. Otherwise, we can easily imagine
an arms race developing over GNR technologies, as it did with the NBC
technologies in the 20th century. This is perhaps the greatest risk, for once such a
race begins, it's very hard to end it. This time - unlike during the Manhattan
Project - we aren't in a war, facing an implacable enemy that is threatening our
civilization; we are driven, instead, by our habits, our desires, our economic
system, and our competitive need to know.
I believe that we all wish our course could be determined by our collective values,
ethics, and morals. If we had gained more collective wisdom over the past few
thousand years, then a dialogue to this end would be more practical, and the
incredible powers we are about to unleash would not be nearly so troubling.
One would think we might be driven to such a dialogue by our instinct for
self-preservation. Individuals clearly have this desire, yet as a species our
behavior seems to be not in our favor. In dealing with the nuclear threat, we
often spoke dishonestly to ourselves and to each other, thereby greatly increasing
the risks. Whether this was politically motivated, or because we chose not to
think ahead, or because when faced with such grave threats we acted irrationally
out of fear, I do not know, but it does not bode well.
The new Pandora's boxes of genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics are almost
open, yet we seem hardly to have noticed
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