Lessig on REALLY potent WMD's - the Nanotech version
This read made me incredibly depressed. In the article, Lessig points to an old piece that describes the dangers of mixing genetic engineering, biotech, and nanotech together. Key idea - its going to get a lot cheaper, easier to conceal, and easier to distribute insanely lethal mass killing devices in the future. Lessig's response to this problem was that we need to antagonize foreign groups less. I am skeptical on this - but I just read it so I am still trying to iron out exactly why. However, one thing I noted while reading this was that Lessig ignored the Mutually Assured Destruction doctrine. Perhaps this is because it will be difficult to trace "who" was the actor behind an attack, undermining our ability to retaliate. However, even if this is so, these bioengineered versions should still swing back and bite the victim (if Korea releases the plague, its likely that someone with it will sneak back into the country, infecting the infector). I'll email him and get his thoughts on this.