Nanotechnology, the Smaller You Go the More Questions There Are

Nanotechnology, the Smaller You Go the More Questions There Are

Nanotechnology has been in the news lately and will be more and more for the coming years. Everyone always comments on how small everything is getting. From the first computers to smartphones that can do more than a computer from the 20th century. Not only are these electronics getting smaller, but they are getting faster and able to do more! If this trend continues then soon we will have technology that cannot be seen by the naked eye even. Well guess what these already exist and we will only see more of this in the future.

 These machines give humans an almost unlimited possibility to do anything. From the medical field to the energy sector. These little things will be everywhere. Just imagine a world where humans can build anything, even a molecule. Where everything can be made cheaply, efficiently and however one would like it. Even batteries would be able to hold exponentially more energy. Now if we start to talk about the molecular level things really start to get fun. Being able to bio-engineering things would be incredible. Jurassic Park might not be something that is just a science fiction film. Then the medical field would be hit hard by these machines. From new smart drugs that could be administered in new ways, to nanobots that help our immune system fight off diseases.

The benefits are so numerous, it seems ridiculous to even consider a bad side to nanotechnology, but this is the most important part for discussion. There are, what Tavani calls the pessimistic view, six categories where developments in molecular manufacturing could result in disaster. These categories are: Severe economic disruption, Premeditated misuse in warfare and terrorism, Surveillance with nano-level tracking devices, Extensive environmental damage, Uncontrolled self-replication, and Misuse by criminals and terrorists. These are the major issues that arise when talking about what can go wrong with these nano-machines. Then there are the issues of privacy and control, longevity and runaway nanobots. Any one of these issues are full paragraphs by themselves, but I will just touch up on them. With nanotechnology being so small people would feel like they are being watched constantly which, so there will need to be some rules and regulation in which it will not be legal to tape someone. Longevity isn't a major issue, there will always be an equalizer here, which in the human case might be the destruction of all resources on the planted, killing everything on earth. Runaway technology is always a what if scenario that humans like to play. Many movies have been off this idea, I'm looking at you The Terminator and The Matrix. Once these issues are addressed and made so that they are minimized, then we will have the utopia that nanotechnology can give us.


Tavani, Herman. Ethics and Technology. 3rd. California: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2011. Print.