I don't know what to make of the Foresight Institute 25th Anniversary Reunion. We clearly haven't reached anywhere near to the wonderful future propagandized about "nanotechnology" back in the 1980's and early 1990's. And I can guarantee that nobody who attends this conference will have gotten 25 years younger.
"Join friends old and new this summer at Google's Mountain View headquarters in Silicon Valley as we explore the future of nanotech . . ."? Hey, guys, look at the year on the calendar. We live in "the future of nanotech" many of you talked about with breathless anticipation 20-25 years ago. You have some explaining to do.
I watched part of the Suspended Animation conference online the other day, and I'd make the same challenge to the droning booster of "nanomedicine" who speaks at these conferences. (I halfway expected him to call roll, and then notice Ferris Bueller's absence.) He said that we'd see some kind of breakthrough in another 20 years. What about the breakthrough he promised would happen in 20 years, but back in the early 1990's?
0 comments:
Post a Comment