What is Science? From Global Warming to Evolution
Google Tech Talk July 21, 2010 ABSTRACT Presented by Michael Vassar. What is science? Are science and rationality the same thing? If science was something new, what sort of a new thing was science? I will discuss different ways of knowing, focusing on the differences between the analytic method of the enlightenment and the synthetic method of romanticism (and scholarship classically). These methods should be used together, but in fact their practitioners have been at war since Marx and Rousseau, leading to a schism in Western intellectual history with disastrous consequences. Darwin’s theory of evolution is used as a case study of how these different methods of knowing manifest themselves, and can shape the practice of science in important ways. Michael Vassar is President of the Singularity Institute for AI. Previously, he was a Founder and Chief Strategist at SirGroovy.com, an online music licensing firm. Prior to that, he held positions with Aon, the Peace Corps, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Michael has been writing and speaking on topics related to the safe development of disruptive technologies for a number of years: his papers include the Lifeboat Foundation analysis of the risks of advanced molecular manufacturing co-authored with Robert Freitas, and “Corporate Cornucopia”, authored for the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology Task Force. He holds an MBA and a BS in biochemistry.
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Why Global Government Is Inevitable
Why Global Government Is Inevitable
According to the bible, in the last days, a unified global government will rule the world. The head of this global government, the Antichrist, is one of the more infamous figures in human history, and not a single individual on the face of the earth will lie outside of his jurisdiction:
”And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation.” Revelation 13:7 (NLT)
This global government will emerge in our generation because current technological trends will soon make it inevitable. The catalyst for this consolidation of global political power will be the development of molecular manufacturing (MM), a revolutionary technology of unprecedented capability and strength. It’s a technology that could arrive as soon as tomorrow and almost certainly will arrive within the next decade.
Molecular Manufacturing and Geopolitical Instability
International relations since World War II have largely been shaped by the existence of nuclear weapons. Likewise, the era to come will largely be shaped by the existence of molecular manufacturing. The development of MM will have a much more significant impact than the development of atomic weapons, and the stakes will be much higher. This is because world domination could easily be achieved with the creation of molecular manufacturing.
MM is the ability to manufacture products from the bottom up, one molecule at a time, with atomic precision. The development of MM will lead to the creation of the personal nanofactory, a desktop appliance capable of creating everyday products from basic feedstock (molecules). The consequences of such a technology are so profound, they are probably beyond the ability of a single individual to comprehend.
Since a nanofactory is capable of self-replication, the first could manufacture a duplicate copy of itself. Those two then become four, become eight, and so on. As a result, this compounding capital base could create a massive and decisive military force within days. As Dr. K. Eric Drexler described in his book, Engines of Creation, “a state that makes the assembler breakthrough could rapidly create a decisive military force – if not literally overnight, then at least with unprecedented speed.”
The Circumvention of MAD
Since the Soviet Union emerged as the world’s second nuclear power in 1949, international stability has been built on the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). The prospect of MAD has successfully prevented the eruption of World War III by making a potential military conflict between nuclear powers equally undesirable to each party involved. This has led many to believe that victory in such a conflict is unattainable. With current technology, this assumption is probably correct. However, once molecular manufacturing emerges, this will no longer be true. A MM-enabled power could easily
