From: Anders Sandberg (nv91-asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Wed Jun 04 1997 - 08:07:57 MDT
Robert A. Freitas Jr. describes a trick for making research
academically respectable by stating a conservative end as the
prinicpal objective, while downplaying the will true objective. I
think this happens all the time in academia (my current research
project is about memory consolidation, but my hidden agenda is of
course to understand nootropics).
In biomedical engineering there is a huge, very virtuous goal:
helping the disabled. If we could make good neurointerfaces making
prosthesises would become much easier and disabled people would be
helped. Not to mention the spin-off effects in neuroscience and
biosignalling. This is obviously a reasonable goal, and would have a
good chance of getting funding.
Note that in biomedical engineering matters are routinely discussed
that makes most laypeople quite nervous (implants, how to change
tissues, applying genetic engineering to create custom surfaces) but
they are accepted because they are obviously made for reasonable
ends. And once the technology has been developed, it can be used for
other things, just look at how the piercing industry has adapted some
biomaterials.
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Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension!
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