“If Drexler Is Wrong, He May as Well Be Right” by Tomás B.
Description
I sometimes joke darkly on Discord that the machines will grant us a nice retirement tweaked out on meth working in a robotics factory 18 hours a day. I don't actually believe this because I suspect an indifferent AGI will be able to quickly replace industrial civilization; it will just kill us and eat the world with nanobots. But many don't believe that Drexlerian nanotechnology is possible.
I am an idiot with little physics knowledge, so possibly this is only interesting from an amplification via debate frame, but this is why I think something close to Drexlerian nanotechnology (or having similar practical implications to Drexlerian nanotechnology) is likely possible:
The design space is very large. Any proof that Drexlerian nanotechnology is impossible would have to be very robust. And it strikes me that most plausible looking arguments can likely be hacked around given how large the design space [...]
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First published:
July 7th, 2025
Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/qNyFNJp7CFbkjL6Mh/if-drexler-is-wrong-he-may-as-well-be-right
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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.
United States
