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You could make a similar argument about any technology: we don't fully understand nature, so messing with it is dangerous. Luckily we've come up with technique
by panic 10y ago
You could make a similar argument about any technology: we don't fully understand nature, so messing with it is dangerous. Luckily we've come up with techniques of science and engineering that help us mitigate the danger. We can run experiments, do focused testing, build and validate models, and so on. Is there something unique about GMOs that would make these techniques not work? How do you feel about pharmaceuticals that often "play god" at a more fundamental biochemical level with even more poorly-understood mechanisms?
- tgb 10y agoI agree but also think that a self-replicating experiment is a different class of danger than a one-off experiment. If we get to self-replicating nanobots, I hope the level of caution there goes well beyond that of the Manhattan project.
- mrep 10y ago> If we get to self-replicating nanobots, I hope the level of caution there goes well beyond that of the Manhattan project. We already have those and they are called viruses and bacteria for which we have pretty good defenses against them.
- tgb 10y agoFrom-scratch nanobots won't be facing pretty good defenses. That said tinkering with viruses is scary too.