ABSTRACT
In a recent issue of Wired Magazine, consummate computing pioneer Bill Joy (2000) unveiled a trio of apocalyptic scenarios that he believes could be unleashed in the not-too-distant future. These unpleasantries, resulting from unrestrained, unprincipled and unregulated genetic engineering, nanotechnology and robotics (GNR), can be added to the list of big nightmares of the twentieth century, such as environmental disasters and nuclear and bacteriological warfare, which may yet plague us. Each of these technologies, according to Joy, could abruptly unleash problems on so vast and unprecedented a scale that any of humankind’s responses would be completely overwhelmed. That such a notable ‘priest’ had so seriously challenged the central teachings of the technological (and economic) church was not missed by the US media, where the story was featured on the front page of the New York Times and other prominent newspapers.
