Re: Nature defines transhumanist

From: John M Grigg (starman125@mailcity.com)
Date: Thu Jun 15 2000 - 12:35:17 MDT


an article in Nature magazine said:
"There is no such thing as bad publicity, it is sometimes said. But ever since Eric Drexler brought the term 'nanotechnology' into vogue in his 1986 book Engines of Creation, some researchers have felt that the field has been burdened by unwanted baggage. Drexler envisioned an era in which factory production lines were replaced by self-replicating, nanoscale 'assemblers'  and warned that such entities could supplant humans to become thedominant 'life' forms on our planet. These ideas were quickly seized on by transhumanists people who imagine what the world will look like after technology has rendered us extinct.
(end)

So let me get this right, the author was saying transhumanists are a bunch of science groupies?? Is Drexler our Elvis or Paul McCartney? Did the article point out that Drexler himself "encouraged" these people by forming _The Foresight Institute_?

I'm glad to see the author admits nanotech is taking off now. I still remember the infamous _Scientific American_ article that slammed nanotech believers as a "cargo cult."

John Grigg

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