A FEDERAL REPORT THAT TAKES A PAGE FROM 1930s SCIENCE FICTION
Who needs science fiction? Federal tech and science wonks this summer went wild in a 400-page assessment of what nano, bio, info, and cogno might do for humanity. Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance — a joint effort by the Commerce Department and the National Science Foundation — looks forward to a new age in federal science procurement. Consciously or not, the report echoes classic science fiction from 70 years ago at almost every turn. Too bad the prose isn't as good.
The government's technology forecast ... ... echoes what authors imagined long ago....The sciences have reached a watershed at which they must unify if they are to continue to advance rapidly. Convergence ... can initiate a new renaissance, embodying a holistic view of technology based on transformative tools.... (...Towards Unifying Science and Converging Technologies,... page x)...Nexialism is the science of joining ... the knowledge of one field of learning with that of other fields. It provides techniques for speeding up the process of absorbing knowledge and of using effectively what has been learned.... (A. E. Van Vogt, The Voyage of the Space Beagle, 1939)...New paradigms in communication (brain-to-brain, brain-machine-brain, group interaction) could become reality in 10 to 20 years. Neuromorphic engineering will allow transmitting thoughts and biosensor output from the human body to devices for signal processing.... (...Communication and Education,... page 16)......Going to the Feelies this evening, Henry?... enquired the Assistant Predestinator. ...I hear the new one at the Alhambra is first-rate. There's a love scene on a bearskin rug; they say it' marvelous. Every hair of the bear reproduced. The most amazing tactual effects....... (Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, 1932)...Warfighters [will have] the ability to control complex entities by sending control actions prior to thoughts (cognition) being fully formed. The intent is to take brain signals (nanotechnology) ... and use them in a control strategy (information technology) and then impart back into the brain the sensation of feedback signals (biotechnology).... (...National Security,... page 289)...The bare, compact cerebral matter was then immersed in a ... fluid within an ether-tight cylinder of a metal mined in Yuggoth, certain electrodes reaching through and connecting at will with elaborate instruments capable of duplicating the three vital faculties of sight, hearing, and speech.... (H. P. Lovecraft, ...The Whisperer in Darkness,... Weird Tales, August 1931)...Highest priority was given to ...The Human Cognome Project,... a multidisciplinary effort to understand the structure, functions, and potential enhancement of the human mind. Other priority areas were: personal sensory device interfaces, enriched community through humanized technology, learning how to learn, and enhanced tools for creativity.... (...Expanding Human Cognition and Communication,... page x)...He said, ...I noticed that part of the technique is the so-called sleep machine, which educates you while you sleep.... He chuckled. ...I remember one of my old professors pointing out that you could learn all that is known about science in just under a thousand years.... That' one facet of it. We learned with every sense, through our fingers, our ears, our eyes, and even from smell and taste....... (The Voyage of the Space Beagle)...Sustaining human physical and mental abilities throughout the life span would be facilitated by progress in neuroscience and cellular biology at the nanoscale. An active and dignified life could be possible far into a person' second century, due to the convergence of technologies.... (...The Human Body and Mind Throughout the Life Cycle,... page 16)...And then he continued: ...Only a half-year ago I discovered a principle that will be the means of utterly annihilating every kind of disease germ. And only recently I turned over to others the principles of a new toxin which stimulates the worn-out protoplasmic life-cells....... (Henry Hasse, ...He Who Shrank,... Amazing Stories, August 1936)START
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