TEDx talk: "Transforming the Material Basis of Civilization"
Eric Drexler’s TEDx talk entitled “A Future of Radical Abundance: Transforming the Material Basis of Civilization” is available for viewing on Youtube as well as on Drexler’s blog site.
As described by the Oxford Martin School, where Drexler is a scholar with the Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology:
Dr. Eric Drexler’s talk from TEDx IST Alameda (18 June 2013)
‘A Future of Radical Abundance: Transforming the Material Basis of Civilization’
What if an advanced production technology could enable us to transition to a global economy with zero carbon emissions, and then enable us to undertake the vast task of removing excess carbon from Earthโs atmosphere? What if we could learn to make a broad spectrum of products cleanly, at low cost, and on a global scale? If so, then prospects for the 21st century would be different from todayโs expectations.
Eric Drexlerโs recent TEDx talk in Lisbon describes the physical basis and historical context of a prospective revolution in the material basis of our civilization: high-throughput atomically precise manufacturing. The level of technology required is visible in the distance todayโnot close, yet accessible through a series of advances in nanotechnology and the molecular sciences. As global problems intensify, understanding this technological potential has become increasingly urgent. Ericโs TEDx talk surveys this topic and provides a framework for further discussion.
-Posted by Stephanie C