Posts Tagged ‘nanotechnology’
A world where all basic needs are met?
Neal Stephenson’s book The Diamond Age is set in the near future when nanotechnology, like information technology before it, has changed what it means to be human. At one point in the book, two of the characters are forced to live on the street. Soon they head to a public matter-compiler, which assembles, atom by atom, a set of sushi for the homeless.
With all the talk about welfare, and handouts, and how much of a responsibility the government should have to make sure peoples’ basic needs are met, this scene brings up a question. Imagine a world where some technology has made it more than affordable, trivial in fact, for the government to provide people with what they need to stay alive. Could this, would this, be a better world? How would this affect the structure of society, the meaning of poverty, the meaning of life?
