[ExI] Watson on NOVA

[Darren Greer]

> If anyone wanted to argue that these represent indirect paths to nanotech
and AGI, well, I wouldn't argue with them. <

I wouldn't either. But if human intellectual history has shown us anything,
it is that the path to discovery and achievement often *is* indirect. At
least the indirect stuff can spawn new insights and applications of
technology that just might lead to where we're trying to get too. That
probably holds more true now than it ever has, since the days
of individual discovery are numbered, as we become more unified in our
quests and the individualistic dynamics that have fueled history to this
point are replaced by more cooperative, socialized ones.

d..

On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 11:00 PM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:

>
>
> >... On Behalf Of Samantha Atkins
> ...
>
> >> After seeing the amount of progress we have made in nanotechnology in
> the
> quarter century since the K.Eric published Engines of Creation, I  have
> concluded that replicating nanobots are a technology that is out of reach
> of
> human capability.
>
> >Not so.  Just a good three decades further out.  - samantha
>
> Ja.  I just don't know when those three good decades will start.
>
> I could be overly pessimistic.  Samantha, do you remember about the mid to
> late 90s, when we were all going great guns on this, investments dollars
> were flying every which direction, local nanotech miniconferences, the
> K.Eric was going around giving lectures in the area, and even some
> universities were starting up nanotech disciplines?  One could go to the
> University of North Carolina and major in nanotechnology.  How cool is
> that!
> I don't see that any of it gave us much of anything that was true nanotech.
> The research produced some really excellent technologies, none of which
> were
> true bottom up nanotech.
>
> In a way, I see that as similar to the debate we have had here the last few
> days on Watson.  It isn't AI, any more than developing submicron scale
> transistors is nanotechnology, but it has its own advantages.  Like the
> university nanotech major, it attracts young talent, it pays the bills, it
> definitely fires the imagination.  If anyone wanted to argue that these
> represent indirect paths to nanotech and AGI, well, I wouldn't argue with
> them.
>
> spike
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> extropy-chat mailing list
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat
>



-- 
*There is no history, only biography.*
*
*
*-Ralph Waldo Emerson
*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/attachments/20110216/b2b6a2af/attachment.html>