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Why The Future Doesn't Need Us
Atec Февраль 29 2008 20:16:19
Книга только для ознакомления
." The book that made a big
impression on me, in the mid-'80s, was Eric Drexler'sEngines of Creation, in which
he described beautifully how manipulation of matter at the atomic level could
create a utopian future of abundance, where just about everything could be made
cheaply, and almost any imaginable disease or physical problem could be solved
using nanotechnology and artificial intelligences.
A subsequent book,Unbounding the Future: The Nanotechnology Revolution, which
Drexler cowrote, imagines some of the changes that might take place in a world
where we had molecular-level "assemblers." Assemblers could make possible
incredibly low-cost solar power, cures for cancer and the common cold by
augmentation of the human immune system, essentially complete cleanup of the
environment, incredibly inexpensive pocket supercomputers - in fact, any product
would be manufacturable by assemblers at a cost no greater than that of wood -
spaceflight more accessible than transoceanic travel today, and restoration of
extinct species.
I remember feeling good about nanotechnology after readingEngines of Creation.
As a technologist, it gave me a sense of calm - that is, nanotechnology showed
us that incredible progress was possible, and indeed perhaps inevitable. If
nanotechnology was our future, then I didn't feel pressed to solve so many
problems in the present. I would get to Drexler's utopian future in due time; I
might as well enjoy life more in the here and now
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