Page 137 - Nanotechnology an introduction

marked by the wholesale bombing of great civilian centers, made relatively easy by advances in the design and production of aircraft. More
recently, this trend to involve the entire civilian population has continued through urban resistance movements turning civilian cities into
battlegrounds.
Against this background, it is highly pertinent to inquire how nanotechnology will affect the social organization implicated in warfare. Clearly many of
the technical advances brought about by nanotechnology are useful for military purposes. At present, however, even though the entire population
might be involved in a war, it is still only the professionals who are armed; the civilian population might at best have handguns, but they are
essentially defenseless. Advances in nanotechnology that are put to belligerent use would appear to mainly serve the professional military services;
the performance of munitions can be enhanced or made cheaper. But in the era of the personal nanofactory (productive nanosystems), any
individual could design and fabricate offensive weapons, such as small pilotless flying objects. Thus the ultimate impact of military nanotechnology
is much greater for the civilian population, who will in principle be able to defend themselves rather effectively against aggression. Nanotechnology
represents the apotheosis of mechanization. On the other hand, the universal plenty that the Nano Revolution is supposed to usher in (Section 12.4)
should largely remove the raison d'être for warfare in the first place.

12.6.3. Technical Literacy

The real benefits of nanotechnology, which by changing the way we understand technology and science will also impact on the way we understand
our relationship with the rest of the universe, can only be realized if there is a significant—that is, at least tenfold—increase in the technical literacy
of the general population. Technical literacy means the ability to understand an intelligible account of the technology (i.e. an account in plain
language not requiring any prior specialized knowledge). It would be tragic if the technology remains—like so many technologies today—a
mysterious, impenetrable black box (cf. Section 12.2).

12.6.4. Education
There are doubtless implications at all levels, starting with the newborn infant and continuing throughout life. The commercial and political
reorganization implied by the growth of nanotechnology provides an opportunity to thoroughly rethink the whole structure of education, especially the
formal years of schooling from the ages of six to eighteen. The content of what is currently taught seems very far from what would be required for
future designers of nanoartifacts.
During the last century or so, we have become accustomed to highly formalized education in which a growing state bureaucracy has played a large
part, not only in building and running schools, but also in devising and managing curricula. Yet, if the technical literacy associated with
nanotechnology (Section 12.6.3) develops to a significant degree, the need for such tutelage will wither away, and parents will be capable, and
hopefully willing, to once again take on the principal responsibility for their children's education. This is just another example of how the
Nanotechnology Revolution will lead to far-reaching social changes that will go way beyond merely devising new educational materials and objects
with the help of nanotechnology, while leaving the fundamental aims and processes unchanged. The paradigm exemplified by every citizen
designing their own material artifacts for fabrication on their personal nanofactory applies equally well to the possibility of their designing every
aspect of their lives.
12.7. Impacts on Individual Psychology
Much of what has already been written in this chapter impacts psychology, both positively and negatively. At present, the negative aspects seem to
be slightly dominant. People worry about information overload, which might be quite as harmful as overloading the environment with nano-objects.
“Theranostics”, therapy combined with diagnostics, as exemplified by ingested nanoparticles that can both diagnose an internal ailment and
release a drug to treat it, is seen as disempowerment of the patient (whereas if he or she is prescribed a drug to take as a tablet, it is after all
possible to refuse to take it). Nanotechnology may offer a clear solution to solving, say, a nutritional problem, but implementation stalls. Yet the
potential of nanotechnology is surely positive, because it offers the opportunity for all to fully participate in society. The answer to the question how
one can move more resolutely in that direction would surely be that under the impetus of gradually increasing technical literacy in an era of leisure,
in which people are as much producers as consumers, there will be a gradually increasing level of civilization, including a more profound
understanding of nature. The latter in particular must inevitably lead to revulsion against actions that destroy nature, and that surely is how the
environment will come to be preserved. Elevation of society implies other concomitant advances, such as in the early (preschool) education of
infants, which has nothing to do per se with nanotechnology, but which will doubtless be of crucial importance in determining whether humanity
survives.
12.8. Some Ethical Issues

There are quite a few books on the subject of “nanoethics”. Is there actually such a subject? The contents of these books mostly deal with matters
such as whether it is right to release nanoparticles into the environment when the effects of inhaling those nanoparticles are imperfectly understood.
Clearly that is wrong if (for example) one's choice of ethics is based on Hippocrates' dictum, “Primum, nil nocere.” Most of these books seem,
however, to overlook the fact that the choice of ethics is ultimately arbitrary. As Herbert Dingle has sagely pointed out, there exists no final sanction
for any particular answer to the question, “How shall I choose what to do?”

It follows that books dealing with ethics can be of two types: one type can present a system (possibly with the intention of convincing others that it is
worthwhile adopting it). The second type starts with a particular choice of ethical system and examines the consequences for action in a particular
area (e.g., nanotechnology). It seems that most of the books dealing with nanoethics are of the second type, but the defect of omitting to clearly
state what are the ethics on which they are based seems to be widespread.
Perhaps there is an underlying current of thought that the new era of rationality which might be ushered in by nanotechnology and its way of looking
at the universe would lead to an indefeasible and unique set of “natural” ethical principles. Certainly the technology encourages a more
consequential attitude: if one knows a structure with atomic precision then its properties should be more predictable than those of conventional or
statistically assembled materials; likewise the “atoms” of ethical convictions have certain consequences for human survival, and if they lead to the
destruction of humanity those convictions should be discarded. At the same time the use of evolutionary design principles (Section 10.7) means
that we shall become surrounded by devices, the mechanisms of whose inner workings may not be known. This will perhaps focus attention on the