[extropy-chat] Three-quarters of N. American's support stem cell research

devon fowler dfowler282004 at yahoo.com
Wed Jun 23 22:39:49 UTC 2004


-
> I think there are several reasons.
> 
> 1) It's hard to grasp molecular manufacturing. 
> Engineering from the 
> molecules on up (as opposed to biology)... automated
> general purpose 
> manufacturing, with its counterintuitive cost
> implications... 
> ridiculous-sounding performance projections
> (shrinking computers and 
> actuators by eight orders of magnitude)...
> 
> 2) MM is engineering, not science, but it sounds
> like science so the 
> scientists have been commenting on it.  And it's
> outside their field, so 
> they don't understand it.  Combine this with reason
> 1, and a lot of 
> scientists assume that it's pseudoscience--so they
> figure they have a 
> right and an obligation to debunk it.
> 
> 3) The gray goo issue has substantially warped
> discussion in several ways.
> 
> 4) Various groups of people (both business and
> science) are afraid for 
> various reasons that if MM is taken seriously, it'll
> threaten their funding.
> 
> I can say a lot more on each of these reasons. 
> There may be other 
> reasons as well.  BTW, I wrote about scientific
> misunderstanding in our 
> last monthly newsletter.
> http://crnano.org/newsletter.htm#Bugbear
> And I'll be writing about engineering vs. biology in
> the next one; sign 
> up at http://crnano.org/contact.htm .
> 
> BTW, several people have suggested to me that U.S.
> mainstream denial is 
> a deliberate disinformation campaign: that the U.S.
> has a molecular 
> manufacturing program, and is trying to delay
> foreign programs.  I have 
> no idea whether this is true, so I mention it only
> for completeness.
> 
> By contrast, I've heard that some people overseas
> think that molecular 
> manufacturing is a CIA plot to encourage them to
> waste money chasing an 
> impossibility.  I find this one ridiculous, and I
> mention it only to 
> provide a comparison to the above
> deliberate-disinformation rumor.
> 
> Chris
> 
> -- 
> Chris Phoenix                                 
> cphoenix at CRNano.org
> Director of Research
> Center for Responsible Nanotechnology         
> http://CRNano.org

Thanks for the information, disinformation does seem
to be a problem in this country and I assume other
countries as well.  I would hate there to be a
deliberate coverup for military gain.  The CIA coverup
idea is not beyond what some people would believe
happens who are overly suspicious of the government.

The other reasons stated seem to make sense that
people would fear MM because it's such an extreme form
of engineering.  The funding worries also are logical
sounding...I'll check out the newsletter, thanks
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=====
Devon Fowler



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