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K. Eric Drexler Quotes

Engineer

K. Eric Drexler is a renowned engineer and a pioneer in the field of nanotechnology. Born on April 25, 1955, he is known for his foundational work on molecular machines and nanoscale assembly.

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All Today Machines Technology Ifs Nanotechnology Thinking Depends Long Matter Millions

Famous K. Eric Drexler Quotes

“Nature draws no line between living and nonliving.”

Lines Draws Rationality

Book:Engines of Creation

Source: Engines of Creation

“Scientists study physical things, then describe them; engineers describe physical things, then build them.”

Study Scientist Engineers Physical Things

Book:Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization

Source: Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization

“In a sense, artificial intelligence will be the ultimate tool because it will help us build all possible tools.”

Helping Tools Ultimate Artificial Intelligence Artificial

Book:Engines of Creation

Source: Engines of Creation

“...Local prohibitions cannot block advances in military and commercial technology... Democratic movements for local restraint can only restrain the world's democracies, not the world as a whole.”

World Whole Technology Democracy Military Movement Democratic Locals Block Restraint Prohibition

Book:Engines of Creation

Source: Engines of Creation

“Plants with leaves no more efficient than today's solar cells could out-compete real plants, crowding the biosphere with an inedible foliage. Tough omnivorous bacteria could out-compete real bacteria: They could spread like blowing pollen, replicate swiftly, and reduce the biosphere to dust in a matter of days. Dangerous replicators could easily be too tough, small, and rapidly spreading to stop - at least if we make no preparation. We have trouble enough controlling viruses and fruit flies.”

Source: Engines of Creation

“The basic parts, the start-up molecules, can be supplied in abundance and don't have to be made by some elaborate process. That immediately makes things simpler.”

Made Process Abundance Molecules

Author:K. Eric Drexler

“I had been impressed by the fact that biological systems were based on molecular machines and that we were learning to design and build these sorts of things.”

Facts Learning Design Machines Impressed

Author:K. Eric Drexler

“Any powerful technology can be abused.”

Powerful Technology

Author:K. Eric Drexler

“Today we have big, crude instruments guided by intelligent surgeons, and we have little, stupid molecules of drugs that get dumped into the body, diffuse around and interfere with things as best they can. At present, medicine is unable to heal anything.”

Littles Body Bigs Today Stupid Drug Intelligent Instruments Medicine Heal Interfere Surgeons Crude Molecules Dumped

Author:K. Eric Drexler

“If you take all the factories in the world today, they could make all the parts necessary to build more factories like themselves. So, in a sense, we have a self-replicating industrial system today, but it would take a tremendous effort to copy what we already have.”

Ifs World Self Today Effort Copies Factories Workplace World Today

Author:K. Eric Drexler

“I've encountered a lot of people who sound like critics but very few who have substantive criticisms. There is a lot of skepticism, but it seems to be more a matter of inertia than it is of people having some real reason for thinking something else.”

People Thinking Real Matter Reason Seems Sound Criticism Critics Skepticism Inertia

Author:K. Eric Drexler

“After realizing that we would eventually be able to build molecular machines that could arrange atoms to form virtually any pattern that we wanted, I saw that an awful lot of consequences followed from that.”

Able Wanted Form Realizing Saws Consequence Machines Patterns Awful Atoms

Author:K. Eric Drexler

“It's a lot easier to see, at least in some cases, what the long-term limits of the possible will be, because they depend on natural law. But it's much harder to see just what path we will follow in heading toward those limits.”

Long Law Term Natural Cases Path Depends Easier Limits Harder Long Term Headings Natural Law Term Limits

Author:K. Eric Drexler

“And that because the moving parts are a million times smaller than the ones we're familiar with, they move a million times faster, just as a smaller tuning fork produces a higher pitch than a large one.”

Moving Millions Produce Higher Familiar Faster Forks Tuning Moving Parts

Author:K. Eric Drexler

“An international race in the relevant technologies is getting under way at this point, not necessarily with an understanding of where that race leads in the long run, but strongly motivated by the short-term payoffs.”

Way Long Running Understanding Term Race Technology International Motivated Relevant Long Runs Short Term Lead In Payoff

Author:K. Eric Drexler

“But if we can manage it so people don't have things forced on them that they don't want, I think there's every reason to believe things can settle out in a situation that is recognizably better than the one we're stuck in today.”

People Ifs Thinking Want Believe Reason Today Situation Stuck Manage Settling

Author:K. Eric Drexler

“In thinking about nanotechnology today, what's most important is understanding where it leads, what nanotechnology will look like after we reach the assembler breakthrough.”

Thinking Looks Important Today Understanding Breakthrough Nanotechnology

Author:K. Eric Drexler

“Likewise nanotechnology will, once it gets under way, depend on the tools we have then and our ability to use them, and not on the steps that got us there.”

Way Use Ability Steps Depends Tools Nanotechnology

Author:K. Eric Drexler

“My work at MIT had focused on what we could build in space once we had inexpensive space transportation and industrial facilities in orbit. And this led to various sorts of work in space development.”

Space Development Various Focused Facility Transportation Orbit Inexpensive Mit

Author:K. Eric Drexler

“On the molecular scale, you find it's reasonable to have a machine that does a million steps per second, a mechanical system that works at computer speeds.”

Doe Steps Millions Computer Machines Speed Scales Reasonable

Author:K. Eric Drexler

“Protein engineering is a technology of molecular machines - of molecular machines that are part of replicators - and so it comes from an area that already raises some of the issues that nanotechnology will raise.”

Technology Issues Areas Machines Raises Engineering Protein Nanotechnology

Author:K. Eric Drexler

About the Author

Born: April 25, 1955
Known for: Engineer
Quotes: 21

Books & Sources

Engines of CreationRelated source material

Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change CivilizationRelated source material

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