Molecular manufacturing means that some computers, equipment and machines are so small we don’t know what they are doing. We will lose a degree of control and privacy.
This loss of privacy and autonomy could be increased due to an increase in policing technology.
An increase in racism could become the case as space becomes even more of a premium as the population grows.
Even though I believe we will make a transition from self-expressive values to sacrificial values as outlined in the work of Dr Clare W. Greaves,3 what concerns me is the sort of events that the world will have to endure to make that shift.
Both Excited and Concerned by:
The debate around the laws and public policy of advances in new technology always plays catch up to the technology itself. This is a double edged sword. Firstly, it slows the availability of the new technology and yet the discussions are critical to ensure we are able to govern the way technologies are used. Stem cell research could result in the eradication of some terrible diseases and slowing the research seems inhumane; and yet allowing research without a governing framework could lead to more pain, discomfort and inhumane suffering. Either way the discussions always make for interesting and thought provoking debates. Another less extreme example of this is the current debate around the private use of drone aircraft.4
The impending and probably inevitable move towards a cashless society is another double edged sword. It will dramatically reduce the ability of criminals to carry out financial crimes and will increase the ease of shopping and banking. The drawbacks will be around privacy and personal security. On top of that there is a double edged sword for those who have a certain interpretation of the chapter of Revelations in the Bible.5
3
Graves, Dr. Clare W., From The Futurist, 1974, pp. 72-87. Edited with embedded comments by Edward Cornish, World Future Society. http://www.clarewgraves.com/articles_content/1974_Futurist/1974_Futurist.html 4
Foreign Correspondent, 2012, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-03/foreigncorrespondent-rise-of-the-machines/4236436 Posted Mon Sep 3, 2012 9:23am AEST 5
The Bible, Revelations Chapter 13 Verse 17.
www.rodmatthews.com