Is nanotechnology immoral?

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If you don’t have a super-fast, super-small computer in a few years, blame the moral majority. It turns out that most Americans find nanotechnology, the scientific field most likely to produce such a breakthrough, morally unacceptable.
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That’s according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin who are studying people’s attitudes towards nanotechnology, an emerging scientific field that involves manipulating molecules and atoms. They found that just 29.5% of the 1,000-plus Americans surveyed said they thought nanotechnology research was morally acceptable.
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Our first reaction was that 70% of people must not know what nanotechnology is – President Bush, who has openly relied on moral views to shape his scientific agenda, has made nanotechnology one of his scientific priorities, after all. And Dietram Scheufele, the U of W professor who led the survey, agrees to a point. People’s understanding of what nanotechnology is hasn’t advanced much over the last few years, he tells the Business Technology Blog. “So people rely on mental shortcuts,” lumping nanotechnology in with other new technologies like stem cell research and genetically modified foods, he tells us. The same people who object to those fields – often on religious reasons – object to nanotechnology. (Incidentally, the heathen Europeans are just fine with nanotechnology.)
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blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/02/21/nanotechnology-is-morally-unacceptable/trackback/
 
ribozyme said:
blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/02/21/nanotechnology-is-morally-unacceptable/trackback/
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I would like to see the actual survey. The whole concept of asking people if something they have never heard of is morally acceptable is just an elitist jerk’s way of making fun of religious people.

The answer, of course, is no…not intrinsically. However, it would be possilbe to use nanotechnology for immoral purposes…just as microtechnology or any other technology can be used for immoral purposes. 🤷
 
A specific application could be considered immoral, but I have problems believing any entire field of science to be immoral.
 
Science is discovery of facts. Technology is introduction of devices. Many devices should never have been introduced. Many devices should not be introduced. Nanotechnology is like Jurassic Park, only invisible and thus much more difficult to avoid. It is the end to the last traces of privacy and nature. Privacy is an intrinsic good and need and nature is God’s artwork. It shouldn’t be embarrassing to take a stand against inventions. I am against the invention of many weapons, drugs and other things in the world today. It’s OK to like thinking nature has its own dignity.
 
Dude, the article mentions “the moral majority”.:rolleyes:

OK, yeah. And how about Khomeini, Gorbachev, and Gary Hart’s presidential bid, since you’re mired in the 1980s?

Nanotechnology as such isn’t immoral, obviously. But people have been told, mainly by science fiction writers–whose real job is to get people imaginatively used to tech, and most of whom are at least agnostic if not atheist–that any use of nanotech could result in the creeping gray goo. That’s why they think it’s immoral, not their religions.

Transhumanism, however, is immoral–because it would create haves and have-nots like never before. Ever see “Galaxy Express 999”? The machine people are transhuman.
 
Hastrman said:
Transhumanism, however, is immoral–because it would create haves and have-nots like never before. Ever see “Galaxy Express 999”? The machine people are transhuman.
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In some scenarios of transhumanism… in some scenarios.

Just redistribute people’s assets so everyone can enjoy the post human future. I want socialized transhumanism.

Maybe I should read *Citizen Cyborg * (which is essential an argument for “socialized transhumanism”)again, which is about three feet away from me along with the books Race Differences in Intelligence (I don’t recommend reading that), The Singularity is Near, The God Delusion, and several textbooks.
 
I’d like to see some actual nanotechnology … as opposed to the sci-fi version.

Do nano-bots make nano-sounds?

They’re about this big:

:kissme:
 
ribozyme said:
In some scenarios of transhumanism… in some scenarios.

Just redistribute people’s assets so everyone can enjoy the post human future. I want socialized transhumanism.
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Quaint. But until you’ve already socialized every aspect of the economy, that won’t happen.

And, of course, whenever you set up socialism the official class just replaces the capitalist class, and nothing else changes–except everything becomes less efficient.

But then, I’m acquainted with Eastern European history.
 
Hastrman said:
Quaint. But until you’ve already socialized every aspect of the economy, that won’t happen.

And, of course, whenever you set up socialism the official class just replaces the capitalist class, and nothing else changes–except everything becomes less efficient.

But then, I’m acquainted with Eastern European history.
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What about Sweden? It isn’t entirely socialized and private property still exists.
 
ribozyme said:
What about Sweden? It isn’t entirely socialized and private property still exists.
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Seen their suicide rate? And the official class does, in fact, have far more power than the capitalist class does in America.
 
ribozyme said:
What about Sweden? It isn’t entirely socialized and private property still exists.
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This Sweden?
globalisation.eu/blog/liberalisation/sweden-plans-to-scrap-wealth-tax-200704041049/
http://www.globalisation.eu/images/stories/2007-04-04-sweden.jpg
Sweden plans to scrap wealth tax %between% %between%
Written by Alex Singleton Wednesday, 04 April 2007

Sweden is often hailed as a socialist paradise by commentators elsewhere in the world, desparate to find an example of where Big Government has worked. In reality, Sweden’s economy has been doing abysmally, suffering from higher unemployment than in France, and living beyond its means, needing to borrow money for most of the past 35 years. On the other hand, its education system is fantastic thanks to school choice. Now the Swedes are planning to scrap their wealth tax, which levies a tax on people’s assets (this is in addition to an income tax).

Luxembourg and Spain remain the only other EU countries which impose such a tax. Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands have all dropped theirs in the past decade. The truth is Sweden desperately needs to do something about the social problems caused by its stagnant economy. Much of Sweden’s tax regime is counterproductive. It has the highest tax burden in the EU, which discourages enterprise and encourages people like Ikea founder Ingvarf Kamprad to live elsewhere (he’s in Switzerland). Its high income tax rates make no sense from the point of collecting revenue, given the Laffer Curve (which shows that high tax rates can produce lower revenues than lower rates).

Sweden’s finance minister Anders Borg says the scrapping of the wealth tax is “a step on the way back toward making Sweden an entrepreneurial society”.
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Al_Masetti said:
I’d like to see some actual nanotechnology … as opposed to the sci-fi version.

[Do nano-bots make nano-sounds?

They’re about this big:

:kissme:
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Hey Al,

I found a more beautiful, and undeniably Catholic piece of nanotechnology to show you…
http://www.worldofstock.com/slides/PFR1156.jpg

nytimes.com/2005/02/22/science/22nano.html
Medieval artisans unknowingly became nanotechnologists when they made red stained glass by mixing gold chloride into molten glass. That created tiny gold spheres, which absorbed and reflected sunlight in a way that produces a rich ruby color.
…
For the medieval stained glass, the gold nanoparticles are simple spheres about 25 nanometers in diameter.

At those small sizes, gold no longer glitters gold. Electrons at the surface of the nanoparticles slosh back and forth in unison, absorbing blue and yellow light. But longer-wavelength red light reflects off the particles and passes through the window. Similarly, nanoparticles of silver in stained glass give a bright yellow hue.
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The rest of the article is a good read on nanotechnology. My customers are using nanotechnology to improve battery life, hard disk drive capacities, eye implants, etc. It is a very broad field.

Also, it is not without its risks. There are environmental and health concerns with the use of nanotechnology. As I said, the technology itself is not immoral, but it could be used for an immoral purpose (even unknowingly). So, perhaps the Europeans who have no problem with nanotechnology are the ones who are ignorant because they are unaware of those concerns. 😉 😛
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Is nanotechnology immoral?

I hope not! I am making a living with it! 😃

I think that the blind implementation of any technology can be immoral because of possible catastrophic results.
 
I got some of that nanopaint on my skin and it crawled its way into my body and its taking over … gaaaahhhhhhhh.
 
Is nanotechnology immoral?

Just a little. 🙂

(sorry couldn’t resist).
 
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