[extropy-chat] Social Implications of Nanotech

[Robin Hanson]

On 11/10/2003, Damien Broderick wrote:
> > Another opinion that I've heard has more distinct social implications,
> > though I'm not sure how many people (still?) take it seriously.  It is
> > described in the novel "Diamond Age" and in several books by Drexler and
> > company.  In that vision, future manufacturing becomes much like how PCs
> > are used today.  People have personal general manufacturing devices (PGMD,
> > I'll call them) close to home, and most consumer goods are produced
> > locally on PGMDs, via downloaded designs and a few general feedstocks.
>
>It's some time since I read DIAMOND AGE, but as I recall matter compilers
>were almost exactly NOT like PCs or microwave ovens; they were large
>`mainframe-like' gadgets more akin to ATMs. This was (I think) a social
>control mechanism, as well as a security precaution against random crackers
>compiling Sarin gas, machine guns, etc. This might well be what we'd expect
>to see if Drextech-ish molecular manufacture arrives in the next 15-30
>years.

I finally looked it up.  Pages 37-38 describe a Matter Compiler in a poor
person's home:

"Nell followed him into the kitchen, which housed several important boxy
entities with prominent doors.  Some were warm, some cool, some had windows,
some made noises. ... One of the boxes was called the M.C.  It was built into
the wall over the counter.  ... `This takes so long, it's ridiculous ...
'Cause we got a cheap Feed, just a few grams per second.' ... Inside the M.C.,
folded up neatly, was Nell's new red mattress."

On page 40 a "deke hopper" is described as a similar box that recycles
waste, including a bunch of extra mattresses Mell asked the M.C. to make.


"several important boxy entities



Robin Hanson  rhanson at gmu.edu  http://hanson.gmu.edu
Assistant Professor of Economics, George Mason University
MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030-4444
703-993-2326  FAX: 703-993-2323