X-Message-Number: 6518
From:  (Andre Robatino)
Newsgroups: sci.cryonics
Subject: Re: Pledging To The Promethius Project
Date: 11 Jul 1996 23:58:50 GMT
Message-ID: <4s44fq$>
References: <4rj6k2$> <4rmjb7$>

Andre Robatino () wrote:

<snip>

:   The online debate between Scientific American and the Foresight Institute
: concerning the highly biased nanotech article in the April issue (see
: http://www.foresight.com for an overview, and http://www.sciam.com/WEB/

: exhibit/052796exhibit.html for SciAm's new stance on the subject following the

: debate, together with a link to the original article) shows that online debate
: can overcome incredible amounts of inertia and bias.  Though SciAm apparently
: considers this incident deeply embarrassing, and has made the new article
: hard to find on its Web site, meaning that most of those not aware of the
: debate will stay that way, unless and until SciAm publishes something in its
: paper version.  It will be interesting to see what they're willing to do in
: this regard.
 
  The answer is found on the SciAm Web site (www.sciam.com), which now
contains selected parts of the August issue, including letters to the editor
(www.sciam.com/WEB/0896issue/0896letters.html).  The intent is clearly to
keep their paper readers in the dark, and to discourage those with Web access
from looking at the URL given for the rebuttal (in the very short letter
printed from Drexler, which it would have been hard to find an excuse not to
print).  Note that the first letter from James F. Haw, like the original
article, relies extensively on ad hominem and contains no substantive
criticism.
  The full version of Carl Feynman's letter (which was "edited for length and
clarity") is available at www.foresight.org/SciAmLetters.html.

:If the original article had been published on the Web, and
: backlinks were available, everyone would know.

  It will take another 2 or 3 years before the technology is in place to
finally end this type of thing.  Thus we can expect a major shift in public
opinion regarding nanotech at about the same time, ensuring that the
Prometheus Project, or one like it, should be able to achieve the necessary
funding, if it hasn't already.  Keep at it.

--
  My opinions are not necessarily those of my employer.


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