From: "David James" <shddemon-AT-concentric.net> Subject: Fw: [PoliTech] Why Bill Joy is elitist, myopic, and wrong Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2000 09:43:17 -0800 Here's another point of view on the whole nanotech debacle.. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Larry Klaes" <lklaes-AT-bbn.com> To: <bioastro-AT-setileague.org> Cc: "H. Alan Montgomery" <fhd-AT-tca.net> Sent: Monday, November 06, 2000 5:02 AM Subject: SETI bioastro: Why Bill Joy is elitist, myopic, and wrong > To: politech-AT-politechbot.com > From: <eugene.leitl-AT-lrz.uni-muenchen.de> > Mailing-List: list transhumantech-AT-egroups.com; contact > transhumantech-owner-AT-egroups.com > Delivered-To: mailing list transhumantech-AT-egroups.com > Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 17:44:47 -0500 > Reply-To: transhumantech-AT-egroups.com > Subject: [>Htech] FC: Why Bill Joy is elitist, myopic, and wrong > > > From: Declan McCullagh <declan-AT-well.com> > > http://www.cluebot.com/article.pl?sid=00/10/30/2058257&mode=nested > > Why Bill Joy is Elitist, Myopic, and Wrong > > By Lizard > October 30, 2000 > > The smallpox vaccine will cause people to turn into cows. Trains > cannot be permitted to travel more than 20 miles per hour, or else > the passengers will asphyxiate. The atomic bomb will detonate the > entire atmosphere of Earth. The history of science is filled with > dire predictions of the consequences of technology, few of which > ever come true. (Granted, many of the more lofty hopes for > technology likewise fail to appear. Where's my personal helicopter > and laser gun, dammit?) But fear sells papers, which explains why > Bill Joy is given far more column-inches than he deserves. (Joy, > the cofounder of Sun Microsystems, spoke at a Camden > Technology conference over the weekend.) > > The most distressing thing about his Luddite stand is the > undercurrent of elitism which flows by without criticism. The > common man must not be permitted access to the glorious fruits of > science, he says, because out there among the teeming masses > might be murderers and madmen. Well, we'd probably better make > sure they don't get their hands on fire and the wheel, too -- who > knows what might happen? > > Joy is wrong on a wide range of levels, but his most egregious > error is that he has precisely the wrong solution to the alleged > problem. If he fears the misuse of biotech or nanotech, the last > thing that should be done is to turn these technologies into state > secrets, because that puts the knowledge right into the hands of > those with a history of using it for evil, namely, politicians. > > If something can be done, it will be done, and all that suppressing > information will achieve is ensuring there is not ready access to > counter-measures to whatever devious plots Joy's hypothetical > supercriminals may devise. "Open sourcing" technology will all but > guarantee that for every uber-anthrax, there's an uber-vaccine; for > every bit of world-devouring grey-goo, there's something that will > eat it even faster. Locking technology away is no solution. If the > public knowledge base of the world has reached the point where > one scientist can make the next breakthrough, then there are > dozens of other scientists who can do likewise. > > And, of course, who will watch the watchers? We've already seen > that secrets aren't: There are more leaks in the U.S. national > security apparatus than in a Russian space station. Better to > simply open it up and be done with it. > > There is nothing dehumanizing about the probable merger of flesh > and silicon. It simply continues the path man began when the first > barely-erect hairy ape realized a fist holding a rock got you more > than a fist alone. From that moment on, we became defined by our > tools. There is no point and no purpose in trying to stop now. > > Joy is fond of saying "the future doesn't need us." He is almost > completely wrong. The future needs most of us. It's just that the > future -- and the present -- doesn't need him. > > To post your response or contact the author, visit: > > http://www.cluebot.com/article.pl?sid=00/10/30/2058257&mode=nested > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology > You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. > To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html > This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > -----BEGIN TRANSHUMANTECH SIGNATURE----- > Post message: transhumantech-AT-egroups.com > List owner: transhumantech-owner-AT-egroups.com > List home: http://www.egroups.com/community/transhumantech/ > Alt archive: http://excelsior.planetx.com/transhumantech/ > Old archive: http://excelsior.planetx.com/transhumantech/threads.html > -----END TRANSHUMANTECH SIGNATURE----- > > > >
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