Re: Goo prophylaxis

Hal Finney (hal@rain.org)
Wed, 27 Aug 1997 15:22:09 -0700


I'm finding this discussion a little hard to follow, perhaps because I've
lost track of the scenario. With all the talk about attack and defense,
good and bad guys, gray vs blue goo, there are a few variables which are
unclear:

- Motivation of gray goo creators:

- Want to destroy all life/structure, including their own
- Want to destroy just competitive forms of life, protect their own
- Want to build up as much complexity for their own purpose as
possible, willing to destroy everyone else in the process

- Relative strength of gray goo creators:

- First possessors of nanotech (or of some advanced nano), nobody
else has anything which can compete
- One of a relatively small number of groups with access to this
advanced nano
- Same access to advanced nano as everybody else
- Other groups have more advanced nano than goo creators

The strategies and outcomes will be likely to vary considerably depending
on where along these ranges the scenario lies. Are there other variables
which need to be identified to help understand the possibilities?

Hal