X-Message-Number: 13971
Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2000 09:50:08 -0400
From: Thomas Donaldson <>
Subject: about nanotechnology

Once more, about nanotechnology:

If we do a good deal of scientific reading it will become obvious that
many people are looking not only in detail at how biology and biochemistry
work (the currently most advanced form of nanotechnology, interpreted
literally as means of working with molecules) but other forms too. The
various forms of carbon have gotten lots of publicity, as an example.

Apparently there is also at least one company which is attempting to
bring some of Drexler's specific ideas into reality. That's fine.

However I utterly fail to see how we must EXPECT that Drexler's methods
for nanotechnology will necessarily pan out. They may, they may not,
but they are hardly the only ideas on that subject going around. Yes,
I believe that several forms of nanotechnology will become prominent,
even in the relatively near future. Nor should we make the word
"nanotechnology" restrict itself only to Drexler's version, especially
considering that lots of other work is going on now and has been 
going on for years, and often producing real objects rather than
theory. Again, no form of nanotechnology alone will allow us to revive
ANYONE, we need to understand much more deeply how our brains remember
and give us our sense of identity ... at a minimum (it is even very
likely that a device that could bring someone back from a bad 
suspension could NOT be a molecular size, though it may have many
nanotechnological parts.

			Best and importance for the future,

				Thomas Donaldson

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