Nonetheless, nanotechnology research continued through the 1990s, gaining considerable momentum later in the decade. Then in 2000, Bill Joy caused a furor when he wrote a lengthy attack on computers, nanotechnology, and bioengineering in the popular technology magazine Wired. “The future,” Joy wrote, “does not need us.” Drawing on the works of futurist Ray Kurzweil in addition to Drexler, the “Unabomber,” and many others, Joy came to the conclusion that no matter which direction our accelerating technology takes us, it is not likely to be good for humanity. In particular, he singled out the principle of “self replication” in Drexler’s list of desirable qualities for molecule-size “nanobots” (nanorobots) as something that could easily get out of control with disastrous consequences. Joy admitted that his uneasiness about the coming technology made him sound a bit like a “Luddite,” the mythical anti-technologist of 19th century Britain. And while gloom and doom technology scenarios have always been common place, the origins of this story astonished many—Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, is one of his generation’s greatest technology heroes.
Two years later, science fiction author Michael Crichton (already famous for The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park) turned the scenarios that Joy imagined into a vivid, terrifying novel called Prey. In the book, nanobots escape from the laboratory, multiply, and actually begin to evolve. The take on human appearances, kill a lot of people, and are barely prevented from taking over the world. While some critics said the book was too technical, many in the engineering and scientific circles were aghast. Prey, they claimed, had done immense damage to the cause of nanotechnological research and had greatly exaggerated its risks.
The latest salvo in the nanotech wars was fired in mid-2005 by engineer-turned-technoprophet Ray Kurzweil. His latest book, The Singularity goes farther than ever before in positing how nanotechnology and computing may bring the most profound transformations in human life that one can imagine. Kurzweil suggests that soon, within a few decades perhaps, humans will outgrow their humanity and merge with their technology (hence the “singularity”).
Advances in nanotechnology are indeed appearing at an accelerating pace. The question is, Will the results of the coming revolution even vaguely resemble one or more of these predictions? History suggests that it will. In earlier years, mankind imagined technologies long before they became a reality and strove to realize them. Aircraft, space flight, wireless communication, and even effective medicines were the subject of popular fantasy, science-fiction, and wishful thinking hundreds or in some cases thousands of years before they were technically possible. Nanotechnology probably will follow this same pattern—wishful thinking will eventually result in mankind having its wishes fulfilled.
Original Source: Bill Joy. Source: Wired, December, 2003. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.12/billjoy_pr.html
K. Eric Drexler's website - great Nano technology resource - many predictions: http://www.e-drexler.com/
Goverment reference on the size of Nano technology: http://www.nano.gov/html/facts/The_scale_of_things.htmlhttp://www.nano.gov/
Michael Crichton's "Prey": http://www.amazon.com/Prey-Michael-Crichton/dp/0066214122
Ray Kurzweil "the technoprofit" website: http://www.kurzweilai.net/
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