Today's Reading-Related Exasperation: Bowman & Hodge (2007)

[ashnistrike]

P.436:

[Crichton uses the ideas of molecular manufacturing and uncontrolled replication.  Both ideas are originally from Drexler], ideas that have subsequently been refuted as implausible by some members of the scientific community itself.

P.438

[Did Feynman have any clue what he was talking about when he gave his seminal speech on the long-term potential of nanotechnology?]  Surprisingly, the answer to both questions has apparently been "no" as far as some commentators go.

P.442

Current real developments in nanotechnology offer exciting opportunities to advance the human condition; however, implausible ideas framed by some scientists only serve to influence the creative talents of science fiction writers, like Crichton, who then prey on the public's lack of knowledge of the current boundaries of nanotechnology for entertainment's sake.

Note how when "some" people say that molecular manufacturing and its concomitant dangers are impossible, they are thoroughly authoritative.  Indeed, "some" is used suspiciously like "all" here.  On the other hand, when "some" people (like Nobel Prize winner Feynman) support these ideas, they are easily dismissed.

SMACK!

We won't even go into the remarkable assumptions buried in that last quote.  Or the dubious judgment shown by anyone who consistently describes Prey as "a great read."

Comments

[dbang.livejournal.com]

Science fiction "preys" on people by offering them fictional entertainment!

Fiction is just lies you can't be sued for, you know.