The consequence that we now face is humanity being replaced. .
As discussed in Billy Joy's articleWhy The Future Doesn't Need Us? the nature of science is such now that it has become our new religion. Our thirst for thenew? has fueled the rapid advancement of modern technologies in genetics, biochemical engineering, nanotechnologies, robotics even weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The problem with these types of sciences are widely known and unregulated. Surely, it would be difficult to regulate the knowledge of a certain technology, for example biogenetic research on cloning. However, it is not the knowledge of, as suggested by Bill Joy, that needs to be regulated yet the use of such knowledge and its dissemination that should be. Unlike military uses of nuclear, biological, and other technologies, commercial use and research are not as easily monitored. Mainly because of private facilities that specialize in a particular science such as genetics. The difficulty with monitoring and limiting public access to certain kinds of genetic, bio and nanotechnologies seems to be with patent laws (or the lack thereof), and intellectual property rights as these are things outside of military restrictions would alleviate some of the problem with unethical use. By instituting an organization or implementing a program that all research labs and scientists would have to adhere to this may help in slowing down the rapid advancement of GNR, as bill Joy calls them. It will undoubtedly give those in control of such powerful knowledge time to rethink perhaps prevent their creations (genetically enhanced robots and other technologies conscience of thought) from dominating and controlling us.
Inaddition to how we can deal with the social implications of science and technology, we also need to look to the scientists and the role they play in the development and implementation of such technologies.
