Imagining the Future

It is often simple ideas that underpin industries (eg. the transistor) although they may originally be difficult to manufacture.

K. Eric Drexler in his seminal book "The Engines Of Creation", laid out a broad groundwork for the nano industries. One idea that really captures the imagination is the self-replicating assembler. This is a parallel to the self-repicating factory, which we have not accomplished either. We will not likely make inroads into the Assembler until we have accomplished the Factory. (and there is not much incentive to do that.) We have almost accomplished the automated factory, but it still needs a great deal of human oversight.

Perhaps we would be better aimed at the Self Maintaining Factory first.

I do have one thought for the Assembler. Instead of making the Parent responsible for the entire Child Assembler, i suggest it should only make enough of the Child to allow it to then create the rest of itself. An Assembler needs to consist of two fabricated products. One of the products is the basic assembler, and the other product is programmable, but is basically an export. (minimum)

As an example of what I mean, imagine a RepRap style of machine that can build a copy of the x-y-z table and extruding equipment. Imagine that the circuitry is also built the same way using various metal/semiconductor/insulator materials, and is then programmed by the Parent. Imagine that more advanced equipment for Function #2 is subsequently built by the Child on its own body, and then when it is "Mature", it can begin to produce the product it has been chosen to produce... and at some point, it can be signalled to Reproduce.

Of course, once you can produce assemblers, it will be a short time till the Warrior class of nano-bot begins to show up unannounced... and war will take on a whole new kind of horror. just read Prey by Crichton...

Chris

The future's so bright I gotta wear shades!

Hi Everyone,

I think every country has its predictor of the future. However, we have to accept the small changes we have on Earth. Evolution, imposed by human or by nature, is a long term progress and human cannot accept big jumps. We are lost in the middle of the actions. Stress, sleep, and many other influences will disturb too much human beings, mentally and physically, and we have the tendency to resign in duty and stop the continuation of all progress or we desroy ourselves. It happened with the "missing link".

Big words like biotechnology and others, don't make too much progress. As we tell that life expectency goes higher and higher every decade but we have more and more cancers which kill us. The 45 years life-expectency of the 15th century is equivalent of our 75 years. The sectarian life and obedience was without stress and the standard and low calory eating habits, less alcohol and other toxics provided calm and peaceful life. Our present want ot get everything now and immediately don't give us the opportunities to see the future and act on it.

I believe in accumulation of small actions and small results, Gil.

Hi Gil,

We can't find the missing link because there was no missing link. We were created by the ancient gods, who put together DNA from the "Man of the Field" (aka Neandertal) with "Their Own Image" and produced the Adamas (Worker) for the gold mines in South Africa (Hell)

(Ninmah [standing], Enki [seated], Adam [on knee])

Chris

Hi Chris,

OK for the missing "missing link" but "gods" who put together DNA from the "Man of the Field" with "Their Own Image" and produced the Adamas were human gods or shortly human. The put together a human who can love, hate, lie, be trustfull, polite, vulgar, and also kill at the same time. It's a bad image of "gods" or they missed up?! Error is human! Hoopla, error comes from "gods"? On Earth no one do something so fast and so good that human. We, humans are the winners, including when we loose. Environmental errors are the best examples. Today, all religious chiefs as the Pope, Dalai Lama fail to do something positive for the future. They are in the past without ideas about the future. My question is the following: How come they were so intelligent to create a "human" and let him do what he wanted during milleniums and today they can handle little things like abortion or contraception?

So, after your drawing, "gods" used science to create concoctions to bring into life another humans as (Adamas) with certain initial order to get in the nature, reproduce, and populate the land.

Adamas was undisciplined because we are where we are with all problems and difficulties with or without solutions. Have we contact with "gods" to be able to correct ourselves and turn to be better? Let me know where will be the meeting because I would like to be there, Gil.