Module 12

                I've noticed an unsettling trend with the last few assignments we've had in this class. They have all somehow related to how technology will take over the human race. First we had the logic called Joe, then I did a paper about The Matrix, and now I read this article saying that it's actually possible!?! The article is called "Why the future doesn't need us" written by Bill Joy, it goes into detail about how it's all possible for technology to take over. Joy discusses GNR, the 21st-centuries technologies. GNR stands for genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics.

                I feel that genetic engineering is a very reasonable fear of Joy's. However, with the amount of lab testing and research needed to successfully engineer the genetics of anything just makes it less likely to go wrong in my own opinion. I personally feel that genetic engineering will do more good than bad. Being able to change a person's genes before they're even born to give them a better chance at life by removing any flaws they may have. Or genetically changing someone to make them immune to disease. Even the possibility to genetically engineer plants to produce bigger yields each harvest and animals that grow much larger than before to produce more food for our ever growing population. We have already seen major steps in genetic engineering, I don't think there will be many issues in the near future.

                Nanotechnology is another very reasonable fear of Joy's. I feel that nanotechnology posses a much bigger threat to our world than genetic engineering as it would undoubtedly be much easier to use as a weapon. Imagine the USMC develops suits for soldiers that use nanotechnology to enhance their abilities to kill more efficiently. Now someone decides to sell that technology to terrorist organizations just like they did have done with any other warfare technology. It could ultimately lead to some serious problems.

                Robotics have always been used in doomsday scenarios. In Terminator the Skynet computer decides logically that all humans are a threat and wipes them from the planet or the how the machines in the Matrix takeover the human race and harvest them for power. Robotics is definitely something that could be feared.

                The way I see it is that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If these new technologies of the 21st-century do pose a threat then we will inevitably use the same technology to counteract that threat. This reminds me of a few video games I have played. For example, the Halo series; an advanced alien race poses a threat to the human race because of their superior technology. As a result, the human race uses the GNR technologies to produce genetically enhanced super soldiers that wear suits that include advanced A.I. and robotics technology to out gun the alien invasion.