{"id":593,"date":"2008-02-20T16:38:00","date_gmt":"2008-02-20T15:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/02\/nanotech-against-god-and-probably-unamerican.html"},"modified":"2014-11-14T05:45:02","modified_gmt":"2014-11-14T04:45:02","slug":"nanotech-against-god-and-probably","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/02\/nanotech-against-god-and-probably.html","title":{"rendered":"Nanotech: against god (and probably unamerican)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A recent survey<\/a> shows that most (70%) Americans think that nanotechnology is \u201cmorally unacceptable\u201d. Europe is the other way round: with most thinking that it is morally acceptable \u2013 54% in the UK, 63% in Germany, and 72% in France.<\/p>\n

These are extraordinary numbers. What people are complaining about here is not that nanotechnology might be dangerous \u2013 in fact earlier results from the survey<\/a> showed that the US public are perhaps not concerned enough <\/span>about the potential hazards of nanotech. What they are worried about is that it is literally immoral, in the same way that theft and torture are generally thought to be are immoral. But \u2018nanotech\u2019 is simply that \u2013 a technology, not an application. How can a technology be inherently immoral?<\/p>\n

The guy who organised the survey, Prof Scheufele at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has a hypothesis:<\/p>\n

The answer, Scheufele believes, is religion: \u201cThe United States is a country where religion plays an important role in peoples\u2019 lives. The importance of religion in these different countries that shows up in data set after data set parallels exactly the differences we\u2019re seeing in terms of moral views. European countries have a much more secular perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n

The catch for Americans with strong religious convictions, Scheufele believes, is that nanotechnology, biotechnology and stem cell research are lumped together as means to enhance human qualities. In short, researchers are viewed as \u201cplaying God\u201d when they create materials that do not occur in nature, especially where nanotechnology and biotechnology intertwine, says Scheufele.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yeah right. Aluminium is also a material that doesn\u2019t occur in nature. It also enhances human qualities \u2013 it lets you fly (and drink carbonated beverages\u2026). Yet the god squad don\u2019t have a problem with aluminium (although they do have a problem with fluoride<\/a> in their precious bodily fluids<\/a>).<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s the real deal here? Why does god have a beef with nanotech? It\u2019s not simply fear of the new or concern over about mucking around with life (for instance, Americans are not particularly against GMO)<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Hat tip: Tangled Up In Blue Guy<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent survey shows that most (70%) Americans think that nanotechnology is \u201cmorally unacceptable\u201d. Europe is the other way round: with most thinking that it is morally acceptable \u2013 54% in the UK, 63% in Germany, and 72% in France. These are extraordinary numbers. What people are complaining about here is not that nanotechnology might […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2091,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nNanotech: against god (and probably unamerican)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A recent survey shows that most (70%) Americans think that nanotechnology is "morally unacceptable". 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