The Calm Before the Storm
Posted by Chris Williamson in Nanotechnology, Scientific Research, Singularity Commentary, Singularity NewsYes, Nanotechnology is coming.
It’s the most complicated science ever attempted. At this time we must wait patiently for the explosion. Something this big doesn’t happen all at once but if past trends in technology are any indication, this one will be huge. When Molecular NanoTechnology (MNT) hits the knee of the curve, the adoption rate will be even faster and larger than any technology before it.
It’s important to know that our entire economy is based on progress. The fact that it’s based on Evolution is amazing itself. You see, if corporations don’t expand into new markets, or, in the case of MNT, create new markets, then they die. This is due to the mechanics of our economy: private investors seek profit and if they don’t get profit they pull their money out and the corporation dies. In order for corporations to create more profit than before, they (normally) must create more wealth. They do this by opening up new market territory, in other countries for example, or by making new markets altogether through invention, like cell phones and computers and all those things we don’t *really* need.
Our necessities are taken care of. We know how to build homes, feed each other, and clothe each other. The unfortunate part is that these necessities are commodities, not rights, and therefore much is denied to many people. That is just the way it is right now. Individuals do not truly matter, though, as the individual has evolved into a higher organism already: the corporation.
And just as individuals blindly evolved into corporations, corporations are blindly evolving into the next level of evolution. You could say that they have already done that with global entities such as the U.N., World Bank, and World Trade Organization.
What’s next?
The Singularity is the point in the tunnel where the light ends. It’s where not only technology, but evolution has accelerated so fast that we have no clue what happens after that point. We might not even be able to understand it.
From the U.S. Governments National Nanotechnology Initiative website:
May 2008 — The nano world offers exponential surface area upon which to work. Through the funding support of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Services (CREES), land-grant university researchers are learning how to manipulate matter like never before.
* New Skin: Scientists in Illinois are using corn protein to create new skin and deliver medicine through nanotubes.
* Following the Flow: Researchers are discovering how nano-scale tracers can uncover the sources of pollution in America’s farm fields and waters.
* Super Cloth: Using nanotechnology, Cornell scientists created a fabric that can detect biohazards like E. coli and other pathogens.
* Disease Detectors: Scientists have developed nanoscale biosensors that can help detect diseases on farms and in hospitals.
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