THE GOOD WITHOUT THE BAD

摘要

Very soon, unimaginably powerful technologies will remake our lives. This could have dangerous consequences, especially because we may not even understand the basic science underlying them. How will we defend ourselves if bio, nano or infotech go wrong? Should we give in to the seduction of the androids? Will we have to invent new politics to deal with the unknown? These were some of the key issues at the third public debate organised by New Scientist and Greenpeace last week. On the panel were Ian Pearson, a futurologist at BTexact, Brian Aldiss, science fiction writer and author of the story behind the movie Al, Robin Grove-White, professor of science and society at Lancaster University and chair of Greenpeace in Britain, and Jon Turney, head of science and technology studies at University College London. Julia King, a director of engineering and technology at Rolls-Royce, ensured fair play.