[extropy-chat] ACTION: ERIC DREXLER's Message to ExI

Natasha Vita-More natasha at natasha.cc
Sat Dec 6 23:28:05 UTC 2003


I am forwarding the below message from Eric Drexler:
_______________________________________________________

"Nobel chemist Richard Smalley has responded to my longstanding
challenge to defend the controversial direction of U.S. policy in
nanotechnology, which excludes work on molecular manufacturing. This
event -- and the press coverage now building -- offer an opportunity to
change the flawed course of the field.

The revolutionary promise of molecular nanotechnology (MNT) has
become a part of society's expectations for the future. This technology
will provide nanomedicine breakthroughs that could cure cancer and
extend lifespace, bring abundance without environmental harm and
provide clean sources of energy. These ideas are part of the vision that
launched the field of nanotechnology.

So the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) is, of course,
plotting an aggressive course toward MNT -- isn't it?
Massive research funds are flowing to groups pursing competing approaches,
and researchers are touting their results as steps toward the goal...right?

The reality is starkly different. NNI research programs support a host of
valuable projects yet exclude work explicitly directed toward MNT. In
an effort to distance the field from fears that might threaten funding, the
leading NNI spokesman, Richard Smalley, has declared that molecular
assemblers are impossible. This stance has opened a vast gap between
perception and reality, creating a world in which students interested in
pursuing MNT research lack sponsorship, while lab groups and start-up
companies working toward MNT goals must hide their intentions. By
falsely declaring molecular assembly technology to be impossible,
detractors have associated it with warp drives in official circles and
relegated it to fringe status.

Fortunately, this erroneous situation is beginning to change, in part
because the extended Foresight community refuses to let this important
issue be dismissed. We now have a unique opportunity to seize the
momentum. Richard Smalley has responded to my challenge, and the
ensuing exchange -- the Dec. 1 cover story of the American Chemical
Society's magazine, Chemical & Engineering News -- may mark a
tipping point, but only if it is seen -- and properly understood -- by a
wider audience, and if it is properly translated into action.

WHAT YOU CAN DO!

1)  I urge you to read the Foresight press release
<http://www.foresight.org/press.html> and the full exchange
<http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/8148/8148counterpoint.html>, and
then consider what part you can play in adding to the momentum. The
detractors of MNT have shown the power of disinformation; it's time
they saw what well-informed people can do. Some suggestions:

2)  Speak up: make others aware of what's going on. Forward the
press release and the exchange. Write a letter to the editor of
your favorite publication, attaching these materials and
requesting coverage of this important issue. Write policy makers
about your concerns. Raise issues and answer naysayers though
message boards and blogs. Show the opposition our numbers and
  knowledge.

3)  Elevate the debate: shift the discussion on molecular assemblers and
molecular manufacturing from rhetoric and metaphors to science and
  research. Demand proof from those dismissing the accomplishments
  to date. Give someone influential a copy of Nanosystems (Chapters
  1 and 2 are on the web  <http://www.foresight.org/Nanosystems/toc.html>).
Refer them to the work of Ralph Merkle, Robert Freitas and others.

4)  Get more active: request seminars and classes on related topics
Transform your next social event or book group to focus on
these issues. Become more engaged with Foresight -- help match
the challenge grant <http://www.foresight.org/challenge>,
tell us about yourself and your skills
<https://marble.he.net/%7Eforesite/long_survey.html>
consider how you can help with plans for Foresight's next phase
<http://www.foresight.org/stage2>.

5)  Above all, take action.

Regardless of what avenues you may choose, make your voice and intentions 
heard.
Our future is counting on you.

  -- Eric

K. Eric Drexler
Chairman, Foresight Institute

_______________________________________


Natasha Vita-More
President, Extropy Institute  http://www.extropy.org
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