NBIC: Nano-Bio-Info-Cogno

There's no one silver bullet technology that's going to make us all into superbeings. The trick is in the mix of different technologies. NBIC stands for nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and cognitive science. Look at it this way: with nanotechnology and biotechnology, we stand to gain control over inorganic and organic matter. With advanced information technology, we get not just the horrendous data glut that's now tormenting us (and our National Security Agency), but d...

 Biotechnology will Free Us from the Tyranny of Normalcy

Christopher Dewdney: Most people's “ideals” would turn them into underachieving Nicole Kidmans and eight-foot Brad Pitts, identical cutouts. My previous, rather naïve, notion was that biotechnology would free us from the tyranny of “normalcy”—that we could become anything we wanted, morph ourselves into elongated, blue-skinned, orange-haired, sixteen-fingered geniuses, or perhaps flying ribbons of sensual bliss that performed acrobatic choreographies above the sunset.

 Humanists Do Not Fear Technology

As humanists who value human creativity and human reason and who have seen the benefits of science and technology, we are decidedly willing to take part in the new scientific and technological developments around us. We are encouraged rather than fearful about biotechnology, alternative energy, and information technology, and we recognize that attempts to reject these developments or to prevent their wide application will not stop them. Such efforts will merely place them in the hands of othe...